come to grief

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come to grief

To fail or otherwise suffer a problem or setback. The project came to grief after we lost our funding.

come to grief

Fig. to experience something unpleasant or damaging. In the end, he came to grief because he did not follow instructions.

See also: come, grief, to

come to grief

Meet with disaster or failure. For example, The icy runway caused at least one light plane to come to grief. [Mid-1800s]

See also: come, grief, to

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.

come to grief

have an accident; meet with disaster.

2000 R. W. Holden Taunton Cider & Langdons The historian…will see no trace of the battlefield where Charles's grandson, the Duke of Monmouth, came to grief.

See also: come, grief, to

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

come to ˈgrief

(informal) be destroyed or ruined; have an accident and hurt yourself: His plans came to grief due to poor organization and insufficient financing. ♢ A lot of ships have come to grief along this coast.

See also: come, grief, to

come to grief

To meet with disaster; fail.

See also: come, grief, to

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.

come to grief, to

To fail or to falter; to experience a misfortune. A common locution in the early nineteenth century, it rapidly reached cliché status. “We were nearly coming to grief,” wrote Thackeray (The Newcomes, 1854).