ride for a fall

To act in such a reckless, careless, or ignorant way as to likely create danger, conflict, or disaster. I think the prime minister is riding for a fall with her increasingly antagonistic rhetoric against working-class voters. He's earning tons of money now, but he's riding for a fall with the shady investments he's been making lately.

See also: fall, for, ride

riding for a fall

Fig. risking failure or an accident, usually due to overconfidence. Tom drives too fast, and he seems too sure of himself. He's riding for a fall. Bill needs to eat better and get more sleep. He's riding for a fall.

ride for a fall

Court danger or disaster, as in I think that anyone who backs the incumbent is riding for a fall. This idiom alludes to the reckless rider who risks a bad spill. [Late 1800s]

See also: fall, for, ride

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.

ride for a fall

act in a reckless or arrogant way that invites defeat or failure. informal

This phrase originated as a late 19th-century horse-riding expression, meaning to ride a horse, especially in the hunting field, in such a way as to make an accident likely.

See also: fall, for, ride

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

ride for a fall

To court danger or disaster.

See also: fall, for, ride

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.

ride for a fall, to

To behave recklessly and heedlessly. The analogy to the daredevil rider has been around since the late nineteenth century. J. D. Salinger used it in The Catcher in the Rye (1951): “I have a feeling that you’re riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall.”