toes up en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From toes + up, in reference to a corpse lying on its back.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, not-comparable, slang) Of a person, dead or killed.
Groves, of the Forty-sixth, is gone "toes up".
1862, Charles James Lever, Davenport Dunn, page 119:
-
(idiomatic, not-comparable, slang) Broken, completely failed so as to become inactive.
The land deals in Tokyo've gone toes up since the bubble burst, but the landlord's still trying to push through a deal with a developer.
2005, Mo Hayder, The devil of Nanking, page 42:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| toes-up | alternative | lexicographic |