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.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
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]
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.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
ride for a fall
To court danger or disaster.
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.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer