crash and burn en · VERB
Meanings
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(informal) To fail utterly.
Near-synonyms: go up in flames, go up in smoke, come to nought, come to nothing
Crash and burn, huh, Mav?
1986, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Top Gun (motion picture), spoken by Slider (Rick Rossovich):What these figures show you is how badly the Tory dream has crashed and burned. Not only do fewer Britons now own shares than they did in Thatcher’s time, but also in the capital owner-occupiers (both with mortgages and without) will soon be an outright minority.
2016 April 26, Aditya Chakrabortty, “More rent than pay a mortgage: the Tory dream for London has crashed and burned”, in The Guardian:
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Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see crash, and, burn.
Near-synonym: go down in flames
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| crashing and burning | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| crashes and burns | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| crashed and burned | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| crashed and burned | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Synonyms
go down in flames · go up in flames · go down in flames · come to nothing · come to nought · go up in smoke