get the boot
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Be dismissed from your job or position.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
What's worse, they all got the boot but have since proved they can do the business at the highest level.
He got the boot after his wife walked out and half the players quit because he spent so little time trying to improve the side's miserable record in Delmenhorst, Germany.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “get the boot” mean?
Be dismissed from your job or position.
Is “get the boot” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.