Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
go to the bow-wows en · VERB
Meanings
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(dated, idiomatic, informal) To go to the dogs, to decline or deteriorate.
1896, Arthur G. Burgoyne, “Timon of Athens” in Shakespeare Up to Date, and Other Latter-Day Lyrics, Pittsburg: T. W. Nevin, p. 16,
With lavish hand his cash he spent,
And with lightning speed to the bow-wows went
And into the gutter fell.
1912, James Oneal, Militant Socialism, Saint Louis: The National RipSaw Publishing Co., p. 28,
The robber barons of the Middle Ages were perfectly sure that civilization would go to the bow-wows if they were interfered with.
His father died a couple of years ago—he was a Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh—and I fancy Robert has rather gone to the bow-wows since then. Got among a cheerful crowd down there, don't you know, and wasted his substance somewhat.
1928, Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach”, in A Treasury of Sayers Stories, London: Victor Gollancz, published 1961, page 288:
Forms