crash and burn

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

crash and burn

verb crashes and burns · crashing and burning · crashed and burned

informal To fail utterly. Near-synonyms: go up in flames, go up in smoke, come to nought, come to nothing
Similar: go down in flames, go up in flames, go up in smoke, come to nought, come to nothing
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see crash, and, burn. Near-synonym: go down in flames
Similar: go down in flames

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"crash and burn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/crash%20and%20burn. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

crash and burn. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/crash%20and%20burn

Chicago

"crash and burn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/crash%20and%20burn.

BibTeX

@misc{crash_and_burn_2026,
  title = {crash and burn},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crash%20and%20burn},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}