the vultures are circling
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
People are waiting for someone to fail or die to gain advantage
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
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Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: vultures circling overhead
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The vultures are circling as the company's financial troubles deepen
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.
Common questions
What does “the vultures are circling” mean?
People are waiting for someone to fail or die to gain advantage Literally: vultures circling overhead
Is “the vultures are circling” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.