Idioms are fun phrases that mean something different from the literal words you say. People use them every year to make talking and writing much more colorful and exciting. In this lesson, you will learn a wonderful collection of idioms related to ending, passing away, and finishing up.
In this lesson, we’ll look at Idioms that mean coming to a close, fading away, and completing a cycle. Let’s get started and explore some of these helpful expressions.
Idioms for Die
1. Kick the bucket
Meaning: This humorous idiom means to pass away or stop living.
For Example: The old clock on the wall finally decided to kick the bucket after fifty years. / My toy robot kicked the bucket when its gears broke down completely.
Other Ways to Say: Pass away / Stop working
2. Bite the dust
Meaning: This idiom means to fall, fail completely, or stop functioning.
For Example: My old bicycle finally bit the dust after years of riding through the mud. / The villain’s evil plan bit the dust when the heroes solved the puzzle.
Other Ways to Say: Fall down / Fail completely
3. Meet your maker
Meaning: This idiom means passing away or coming face to face with the end of life.
For Example: The ancient knight fought bravely before he had to meet his maker. / That broken old television set finally met its maker today.
Other Ways to Say: Reach the end / Pass on
4. Cross the finish line
Meaning: This idiom means reaching the final end of a difficult project or race.
For Example: After working all weekend, we finally crossed the finish line on our science project. / She was so tired by the time she crossed the finish line in the race.
Other Ways to Say: Reach the end / Complete the goal
5. Cash in your chips
Meaning: This idiom means finishing up your time, giving up, or passing away.
For Example: The exhausted worker decided to cash in his chips and go home to sleep. / When the old radio stopped playing music, it felt like it cashed in its chips.
Other Ways to Say: Give up / End your turn
6. Breathe your last
Meaning: This idiom means taking your final breath and passing away peacefully.
For Example: The tired pet dog breathed its last while sleeping near the warm fireplace. / He felt like he breathed his last after running three miles in gym class.
Other Ways to Say: Take final breath / Pass away
7. Buy the farm
Meaning: This idiom is a quirky way to describe a permanent end or crashing completely.
For Example: The toy airplane crashed into the tree and really bought the farm. / His old video game console bought the farm right in the middle of a level.
Other Ways to Say: Crash and burn / Break permanently
8. Give up the ghost
Meaning: This idiom means a machine or living thing stops working or functioning entirely.
For Example: Our kitchen refrigerator gave up the ghost right before the big party. / The car engine sputtered twice and then gave up the ghost.
Other Ways to Say: Stop working / Quit completely
9. Go the way of all flesh
Meaning: This idiom means growing old, wearing out, and eventually coming to an end.
For Example: All wooden fences eventually go the way of all flesh after many years of rain. / That old pair of shoes went the way of all flesh and tore apart.
Other Ways to Say: Wear out / Become old and break
10. Pass on
Meaning: This idiom is a gentle way of saying someone has died or moved beyond this life.
For Example: The family remembered their beloved grandfather after he passed on last year. / We felt sad when our neighbor’s friendly old cat passed on.
Other Ways to Say: Pass away / Depart quietly
11. Meet your end
Meaning: This idiom means reaching the final conclusion or termination of something.
For Example: The villainous monster met its end in the final chapter of the book. / Every good story must eventually meet its end.
Other Ways to Say: Reach the conclusion / Finish up
12. Run its course
Meaning: This idiom means lasting for a natural amount of time before coming to a stop.
For Example: The heavy cold finally ran its course after a week of resting at home. / The school play ran its course and closed on Sunday evening.
Other Ways to Say: Finish naturally / End in time
13. Draw your last breath
Meaning: This idiom means finishing your time on earth by breathing for the final time.
For Example: The brave hero drew his last breath defending the castle walls. / I felt so exhausted after running that I thought I drew my last breath.
Other Ways to Say: Take final breath / End life
14. Go to a better place
Meaning: This idiom means passing away peacefully into a comforting afterlife.
For Example: Grandma told us that her beloved bird went to a better place. / People often find comfort in believing that pets go to a better place.
Other Ways to Say: Find peace / Rest in heaven
15. Push up daisies
Meaning: This idiom is an old expression meaning to be buried underground and dead.
For Example: He joked that if he lost the race, he would be pushing up daisies. / The old garden weed was pulled up so it would stop pushing up daisies.
Other Ways to Say: Be buried / Rest underground
16. Fall by the wayside
Meaning: This idiom means stopping an activity or failing because you can no longer keep up.
For Example: Many of my old New Year goals fell by the wayside by February. / The broken toy car fell by the wayside during our move.
Other Ways to Say: Be left behind / Stop progressing
17. Sleep with the fishes
Meaning: This idiom jokingly refers to sinking underwater or being permanently lost at sea.
For Example: My lost toy boat drifted into the deep pond and is now sleeping with the fishes. / The dropped coin sank to the bottom of the fountain to sleep with the fishes.
Other Ways to Say: Sink underwater / Be lost forever
18. Fade away
Meaning: This idiom means slowly losing energy, sound, or visibility until completely gone.
For Example: The sound of the distant music began to fade away in the wind. / His bright watercolor painting started to fade away in the sunlight.
Other Ways to Say: Slowly vanish / Disappear gradually
19. Meet your doom
Meaning: This idiom means facing a final, unavoidable, and disastrous end.
For Example: The tricky pirate met his doom when the treasure chest fell open. / If you do not study, you will meet your doom on the quiz.
Other Ways to Say: Face destruction / Reach disaster
20. Come to a sticky end
Meaning: This idiom means experiencing a messy, unfortunate, or troublesome conclusion.
For Example: The runaway shopping cart came to a sticky end against a tree. / His clumsy plan to bake a cake came to a sticky end on the floor.
Other Ways to Say: End badly / Crash messily
21. Go up in smoke
Meaning: This idiom means a plan or object is completely destroyed and ruined instantly.
For Example: My idea for building a tall tower went up in smoke when it fell over. / All our weekend plans went up in smoke when it started pouring rain.
Other Ways to Say: Be ruined / Destroyed completely
22. End up in the graveyard
Meaning: This idiom means an object is so broken that it belongs in the trash or storage.
For Example: My old broken skateboard ended up in the graveyard behind the shed. / That shattered plastic chair finally ended up in the graveyard.
Other Ways to Say: Be discarded / Thrown away
23. Pay the ultimate price
Meaning: This idiom means losing your life or making the greatest sacrifice possible.
For Example: The brave soldier paid the ultimate price to protect his friends. / Saving the puppy from the river meant paying the ultimate price for the toy.
Other Ways to Say: Make the sacrifice / Lose everything
24. Be history
Meaning: This idiom means an object or problem is completely gone, broken, or finished.
For Example: Once I cleaned up my messy room, the clutter was history. / That broken pencil is history; time to sharpen a new one.
Other Ways to Say: Be gone / Finished completely
25. Go belly up
Meaning: This idiom means a business, project, or machine fails completely and stops.
For Example: The neighborhood lemonade stand went belly up when it started to hail. / Our school club project went belly up due to lack of supplies.
Other Ways to Say: Fail completely / Go bankrupt
26. Shut down for good
Meaning: This idiom means closing a store, website, or machine permanently.
For Example: The local arcade shut down for good last summer. / The old computer terminal shut down for good after sparking.
Other Ways to Say: Close permanently / Stop forever
27. Meet a sticky end
Meaning: This idiom means encountering a messy and unfortunate final result.
For Example: The jelly jar rolled off the table and met a sticky end on the rug. / His messy paper airplane met a sticky end in the mud.
Other Ways to Say: End in a mess / Finish poorly
28. Be curtains for
Meaning: This idiom means it is the absolute end of trouble or life for someone.
For Example: When the teacher caught us cheating, we knew it was curtains for our recess. / It was curtains for the puzzle when the dog chewed the pieces.
Other Ways to Say: The absolute end / Total doom
29. Go down in flames
Meaning: This idiom means failing in a very loud, dramatic, and public way.
For Example: His attempt at telling a joke during the assembly went down in flames. / Our group presentation went down in flames when the slides deleted.
Other Ways to Say: Fail dramatically / Crash hard
30. Meet your maker early
Meaning: This idiom jokingly means getting into a dangerous situation that could end badly.
For Example: Running across the slippery pool deck is a good way to meet your maker early. / Driving too fast on a bicycle might make you meet your maker early.
Other Ways to Say: Take foolish risks / Danger of ending
31. Breathe your last breath
Meaning: This idiom means finishing your final moment of living and passing away.
For Example: The old storybook character drew his sword and breathed his last breath. / I felt like I breathed my last breath after finishing the long race.
Other Ways to Say: Expire / Die out
32. Pass away quietly
Meaning: This idiom means dying peacefully without pain or loud disruption.
For Example: The gentle old dog passed away quietly in his favorite bed. / She hoped to pass away quietly after a long and happy life.
Other Ways to Say: Die peacefully / Depart softly
33. Meet a violent end
Meaning: This idiom means being destroyed or damaged in a harsh, sudden way.
For Example: The paper airplane met a violent end when it flew into the fan. / His snow fort met a violent end when the big kids jumped on it.
Other Ways to Say: Be destroyed / Ruined harshly
34. Go to your reward
Meaning: This idiom means passing away and resting after a lifetime of hard work.
For Example: The kind shopkeeper went to his reward after working for sixty years. / Grandpa always said he hoped to go to his reward peacefully.
Other Ways to Say: Rest in peace / Move to heaven
35. Shuffle off this mortal coil
Meaning: This poetic idiom means leaving life behind and passing away.
For Example: The classic play character recited a famous speech about shuffling off this mortal coil. / Every living creature must eventually shuffle off this mortal coil.
Other Ways to Say: Leave life / Pass away
36. Meet the grim reaper
Meaning: This idiom is a spooky way of talking about facing death or a final end.
For Example: The haunted house decoration showed a skeleton meeting the grim reaper. / Driving without a seatbelt is like walking right up to the grim reaper.
Other Ways to Say: Face death / Encounter the end
37. Be six feet under
Meaning: This idiom means being buried in the ground after passing away.
For Example: He joked that his old broken toys were six feet under in the closet. / The spooky story talked about ghosts rising from six feet under.
Other Ways to Say: Buried deep / Under the ground
38. Buy a plot
Meaning: This idiom refers to purchasing cemetery space in preparation for old age.
For Example: The old man decided to buy a plot near his family church. / Planning ahead sometimes means older folks buy a plot of land.
Other Ways to Say: Prepare for burial / Buy cemetery space
39. Go west
Meaning: This idiom is an old expression meaning to pass away or disappear.
For Example: The broken pocket watch finally went west this morning. / Sailors used to joke that lost tools went west forever.
Other Ways to Say: Disappear / Pass on
40. Meet your Waterloo
Meaning: This idiom means facing your final defeat from which you cannot recover.
For Example: The bully finally met his Waterloo when the principal intervened. / Solving that hard math problem felt like meeting my Waterloo.
Other Ways to Say: Face ultimate defeat / Meet your match
41. Be dead and buried
Meaning: This idiom means an old idea, argument, or problem is completely finished and forgotten.
For Example: That silly argument we had last year is dead and buried now. / Let us leave that old broken project dead and buried in the past.
Other Ways to Say: Fully forgotten / Completely over
42. End in smoke
Meaning: This idiom means a plan results in nothing useful and disappears.
For Example: All our hopes for a sunny beach day ended in smoke when it rained. / His grand invention ended in smoke when the gears jammed.
Other Ways to Say: Result in nothing / Fail entirely
43. Meet your final curtain
Meaning: This idiom means reaching the absolute end of your career, show, or life.
For Example: The veteran actor bowed before meeting his final curtain call. / Every school year must eventually meet its final curtain.
Other Ways to Say: Final performance / Absolute end
44. Go down in history
Meaning: This idiom means being remembered forever after accomplishing something amazing.
For Example: Winning the championship game helped the team go down in history. / His brave rescue will go down in school history.
Other Ways to Say: Be remembered forever / Achieve fame
45. Join the choir invisible
Meaning: This idiom means passing away and joining those who have gone before you.
For Example: The beloved pet bird joined the choir invisible this morning. / People often use gentle words to say someone joined the choir invisible.
Other Ways to Say: Pass away / Join the ancestors
46. Meet your doom’s day
Meaning: This idiom means facing a disastrous and unavoidable final failure.
For Example: Homework monsters faced their doom’s day when we finished studying. / The old shed met its doom’s day during the heavy storm.
Other Ways to Say: Face final ruin / Reach disaster
47. Be done for
Meaning: This idiom means being in big trouble, ruined, or finished.
For Example: When mom saw the ink on the rug, I knew I was done for. / The ruined puzzle was done for after the puppy chewed it.
Other Ways to Say: Finished / In big trouble
48. Go the way of the dinosaur
Meaning: This idiom means becoming completely extinct, outdated, or unused.
For Example: Dial-up internet went the way of the dinosaur years ago. / Cassette tapes have long gone the way of the dinosaur.
Other Ways to Say: Become extinct / Outdated completely
49. Meet a quiet end
Meaning: This idiom means finishing peacefully without any fuss or noise.
For Example: The battery on my flashlight met a quiet end during the night. / The old radio met a quiet end when it stopped turning on.
Other Ways to Say: Finish peacefully / Stop quietly
50. Be kaput
Meaning: This idiom means a machine or device is completely broken and dead.
For Example: My handheld gaming console is totally kaput after dropping it. / The microwave went kaput right in the middle of heating popcorn.
Other Ways to Say: Broken down / Completely dead
51. Bite the big one
Meaning: This idiom is a slang phrase meaning to fail completely or break down forever.
For Example: My old laptop bit the big one right before my report was saved. / The vacuum cleaner bit the big one while cleaning the rug.
Other Ways to Say: Break forever / Fail utterly
52. Turn up your toes
Meaning: This idiom is a humorous expression meaning to pass away or lie down dead.
For Example: The old toy soldier doll turned up its toes on the shelf. / He joked that he would turn up his toes if he had to run another lap.
Other Ways to Say: Lie down / Pass away
53. Join your ancestors
Meaning: This idiom means passing away and joining family members who died before you.
For Example: The old warrior legend finally joined his ancestors in peace. / People in stories often talk about joining their ancestors after a long life.
Other Ways to Say: Pass on / Meet past family
54. Be defunct
Meaning: This idiom means an organization, rule, or machine no longer exists or works.
For Example: That old school club became defunct after everyone graduated. / The broken vending machine in the hall is defunct.
Other Ways to Say: Out of business / Non-working
55. Meet your last hour
Meaning: This idiom means facing the final moments of a time period or event.
For Example: We rushed to finish our test as we met our last hour in class. / The party met its last hour as parents arrived to pick us up.
Other Ways to Say: Final hour / Last moments
56. Go out with a bang
Meaning: This idiom means ending in a very exciting, loud, and dramatic way.
For Example: Summer vacation went out with a bang with a huge fireworks show. / The school year went out with a bang during field day.
Other Ways to Say: End dramatically / Finish loudly
57. Be toast
Meaning: This idiom means being in big trouble or completely ruined beyond repair.
For Example: If I do not finish my chores, my video game time is toast. / That wet paper homework is total toast.
Other Ways to Say: Ruined / Finished
58. Meet your Waterloo early
Meaning: This idiom means experiencing a sudden and total defeat before expected.
For Example: The visiting soccer team met their Waterloo early in the first half. / His complex castle design met its Waterloo early when it collapsed.
Other Ways to Say: Early defeat / Quick failure
59. Go down in defeat
Meaning: This idiom means losing a game, race, or contest at the end.
For Example: Our basketball team went down in defeat after a very close match. / Even though we tried hard, we went down in defeat.
Other Ways to Say: Lose the match / Be beaten
60. Breathe no more
Meaning: This idiom means a living thing has stopped breathing and passed away.
For Example: The sad story told of the brave animal that breathed no more. / The broken mechanical toy breathed no more when the spring snapped.
Other Ways to Say: Stop breathing / Pass away
Exercise to Practice
- The old clock on the wall finally decided to ________ after fifty years.
- My old bicycle finally ________ after years of riding through the mud.
- After working all weekend, we finally ________ on our science project.
- The exhausted worker decided to ________ and go home to sleep.
- Our kitchen refrigerator ________ right before the big party.
- The family remembered their beloved grandfather after he ________ last year.
- The sound of the distant music began to ________ in the wind.
- The runaway shopping cart came to ________ against a tree.
- Once I cleaned up my messy room, the clutter ________.
- The neighborhood lemonade stand went ________ when it started to hail.
- The local arcade ________ last summer.
- Running across the slippery pool deck is a good way to ________.
- That silly argument we had last year is ________ now.
- Winning the championship game helped the team ________.
- My handheld gaming console is totally ________ after dropping it.
Answer Key
- kick the bucket
- bit the dust
- crossed the finish line
- cash in his chips
- gave up the ghost
- passed on
- fade away
- a sticky end
- was history
- belly up
- shut down for good
- meet your maker early
- dead and buried
- go down in history
- kaput
Conclusion
Learning these idioms about endings helps make understanding everyday language much more fun and meaningful. When you use these expressions, you can share ideas in a creative and colorful way. Try using some of these phrases when chatting with friends or writing stories at school. You will sound like a language expert while making your conversations lively!
