six feet under

six feet under

Dead and buried. (Six feet refers to the traditional depth of a grave.) You'll be six feet under when Mom finds out that you dented her brand new car. The way I see it, hoarding all that money won't do you any good once you're six feet under.

See also: feet, six

six feet under

Fig. dead and buried. Fred died and is six feet under. They put him six feet under two days after he died.

See also: feet, six

six feet under

Dead and buried, as in No, you can't read my diary-not until I'm six feet under. Although this expression alludes to what has long been the traditional depth of a grave, that is, approximately the same as the length of the coffin, it dates only from the mid-1900s.

See also: feet, six

six feet under

dead and buried. informal

Six feet is the traditional depth of a grave.

See also: feet, six

six feet ˈunder

(informal, humorous) dead and buried in the ground: By then, all the witnesses were six feet under.

See also: feet, six

six feet under

mod. dead and buried. They put him six feet under two days after he died.

See also: feet, six

six feet under

Dead and buried. The traditional depth of a grave is approximately the length of the coffin. This expression, while making good arithmetical sense, came into use only in the mid-twentieth century. J. Gerson used it in The Omega Factor (1979): “We make sure the dead are stiff and cold and six feet under.”

See also: feet, six