go through the roof
1. To react to something angrily. Mom will go through the roof when she finds out we disobeyed her again. Now, don't go through the roof or anything, but I've decided to move to Canada. You broke her prized antique vase? Oh yeah, she's definitely gonna go through the roof!
2. To increase to a very high level. Once our neighborhood was featured in that popular show, house prices went through the roof. Interest in our restaurant went through the roof after that glowing review in the newspaper. Sales for our product went through the roof after our commercials started airing.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
go through the roof
1. Fig. Inf. to become very angry. She saw what had happened and went through the roof. My father went through the roof when he saw what I did to the car.
2. Fig. Inf. [for prices] to become very high. These days, prices for gasoline are going through the roof. The cost of coffee is going through the roof.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
go through the roof
1. Also, hit the ceiling or roof . Lose one's temper, become very angry, as in Marge went through the roof when she heard she'd been fired. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]
2. Reach new or unexpected heights, as in After the war, food prices went through the roof. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
go through the roof
or hit the roof
COMMON
1. If the level of something
goes through the roof or
hits the roof, it increases by a lot very rapidly.
Interest rates were going through the roof. In 1990, wool prices hit the roof. Compare with
go through the ceiling.
2. If someone
goes through the roof or
hits the roof, they suddenly become very angry, and usually show their anger by shouting at someone.
When I told my mother she went through the roof. She took one look at my hair and hit the roof. Compare with
go through the ceiling. Compare with
hit the ceiling.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
go through (or hit) the roof
1 (of prices or figures) reach extreme or unexpected heights; become exorbitant. 2 suddenly become very angry. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
go through the ˈroof
(informal)
1 become very angry: He went through the roof when I told him I’d lost the money.
2 (of prices, numbers) rise or increase very high very quickly: Prices have gone through the roof since the oil crisis began.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
go through the roof
Slang 1. To grow, intensify, or rise to an enormous, often unexpected degree: Operating costs went through the roof last year.
2. To become extremely angry: When I told her about breaking the window, she went through the roof.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
go through the roof, to
To rise unexpectedly high; also, to lose one’s temper. Both meanings date from the mid-twentieth century, the first slightly antedating the second. In 1946 Eric Hodgins in his popular novel Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House wrote “The Knapp sales curves were going through the roof.” For losing one’s temper, this cliché, becoming common in the 1950s, is a synonym of hit the ceiling.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer