Dictionary

meet one's Waterloo en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌwɑ-/ (General-American)
• /ˈwɑ-/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio
• [-ɾɚ-] (General-American)
• /ˈmit wʌnz ˌwɔtɚˈluː/ (General-American)
• /ˈmiːt wʌnz ˌwɔːtə(ɹ)ˈluː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈwɔtɚˌluː/ (General-American)

Etymology

A reference to Napoleon’s defeat by armies of Britain and Prussia at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, which marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Waterloo is a municipality south of Brussels in what is now the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium.

Meanings

1. To be decisively defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult.
   • [...] Zhang's diary is peppered with entries recording his nightly losses at the card table: "I lose two thousand taels," "I lose five hundred taels," or "I am defeated" are typical jottings. One entry from 1938 summed up his card playing: "At night, [I went] to Zhou Wenrui's for gambling, meeting my Waterloo." 2010, Nelson Chang, Laurence Chang, with Song Luxia, “Zhang Congyu, a Master Appraiser of Chinese Paintings”, in The Zhangs from Nanxun: A One Hundred and Fifty Year Chronicle of a Chinese Family, Denver, Colo.: CF Press, →ISBN, part 4 (Later Generations of the South Branch), pages 370–371:
   • Lloyds' and other methods of effecting insurance while avoiding the impositions, vexations and expenses of state supervision, are likely to meet their Waterloo if the following bill introduced by Senator Pierce, of Buffalo, into the legislature at Albany on the 11th inst. becomes a law: [...] 1878 April 18, “Fractional Currency”, in J[ohn] J. W. O’Donoghue, editor, The Chronicle. A Journal Devoted to the Interests of Insurance, volume XXI, number 16, New York, N.Y.: Chronicle Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, page 247:
   • The plan: finally to accept you as a novice. Though even Sister Superior meets her Waterloo in you. A year, then home for good. 2001, Anne V. McGravie, The Cairn Stones: A Play in Two Acts, Woodstock, Ill.: Dramatic Publishing, →ISBN, act I, page 16:
   • Now glory the stars and bars, what may not valor do? / Our foe, in Georgia's dread defiles, has met his Waterloo! 1864 April 7, “The Dove of the Regiment. An Incident of the Battle of Chickamauga.”, in Frank Moore, editor, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc., volume VII, New York, N.Y.: D[avid] Van Nostrand, […], →OCLC, page 91, column 1:

Forms

Relateds

meet one's fate · meet one's doom · meet one's end

Translations (9)

vi phơi áo (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · cmn 遭遇滑鐵盧 /遭遇滑铁卢 (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · sh doživeti svoj Waterloo (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · de sein Waterloo erleben (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · nb møte sitt Waterloo (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · de sein Stalingrad erleben (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · es a todo cerdo le llega su san Martín (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · sh doživjeti svoj Waterloo (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult) · fr rencontrer son Waterloo (to be defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult)

wikipedia: Battle of Waterloo · wikipedia: Napoleon