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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

go down the tubes en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (US, euphemistic, idiomatic) Synonym of go down the toilet: to fail; to degenerate rapidly.
    • Meanwhile, Susan's own workplace shut down, and she found herself "on the street with no job and a two-year-old kid. I was trying my damndest and I was going right down the tubes." 1990 February 4, Pam Mitchell, quoting Susan Moir, “Pro-Union And Queer”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 17:
    • The entire plan went down the tubes when they found they couldn't get strawberries in December.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
went down the tubes Tense=Past lexicographic
goes down the tubes Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
going down the tubes Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
go down the tube alternative lexicographic
gone down the tubes Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Synonyms

go down the toilet