go down the drain
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To be wasted or lost
Literally: go down a drain pipe
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
All our efforts went down the drain when the project was cancelled
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Near equivalent
tiêu ma
(verb) to go down the drain, to be reduced to nothing
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
down the drain
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
English · via tiêu ma
Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.
Common questions
What does “go down the drain” mean?
To be wasted or lost Literally: go down a drain pipe
Is “go down the drain” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“tiêu ma” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.