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go down in flames

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go down in flames 
1. Lit. [for a plane] to crash. The enemy fighter planes went down in flames, ending the battle. The pilot and crew went down in flames near the air-port.
2. . Fig. to fail spectacularly. The whole project went down in flames. Todd wentdown in flames in his efforts to win the heart of Marsha.
See also: flame

go down in flames also go up in flames
to fail or end suddenly and completely We've seen two big mass-transit plans go down in flames in the last two years. The idea of self-respect went up in flames a long time ago.
Related vocabulary: go up in smoke
Etymology: based on the literal meaning of a plane that goes down in flames (falls to the ground and burns)
See also: flame


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And chances are we won't go down in flames from skies between the place we live and where we go to look at paintings showing other pairs--affectionate Dutch couples, John and Salome, Danae and her lap of coins, Apollo and Daphne, Adam and God, Adam and Eve, Eve and the snake, old and affectionate Dutch couples.
``If the people of Los Angeles realize what this measure contains, I think it will go down in flames.
In the history books, summer 2000 may go down in flames.
 
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