one foot in the grave
3
8.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
un pie en la tumba
- After years of poor health, my grandmother seems to have one foot in the grave.
- got one foot in the grave
- one foot in the grave already
- old with one foot in the grave
Examples
-
I may not be as young as Allegra, but I don't as yet have one foot in the grave either, do I?
Fiction book (1991) -
"As long as we're here, we've got one foot in the grave," V.F. said.
Fiction book (1991) -
You had one foot in the grave, so to speak.
-
I hate it when you talk like I have one foot in the grave.
Fiction book (1998) -
He has one foot in the grave, so to speak.
-
You're beautiful, he's got one foot in the grave.
-
I'm just a broken-down old schlep with one foot in the grave.
-
Laughing at her and mocking her illness... and she's got one foot in the grave.
-
She waits eight years until Vera's already got one foot in the grave.
-
You think they'll listen to the crazy ramblings of some old fart with one foot in the grave?
Synonyms
52
4.6
The bed where someone is dying or the short time just before they die
7
7.6
Very ill and almost dying
1
2.4
Close to stopping living or being used
A time when someone is about to die
Antonyms
How Near Death
32
6.7
- Informal
3
8.0
13
3.0
18
1.0
695
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal parts ('one' + 'foot' + 'in' + 'grave') create a vivid image of a person already partly inside a burial place, so a learner who knows the words can plausibly infer 'very close to dying.' However, the meaning depends on a metaphorical mapping (partially in the grave = nearly dead) rather than a straightforward compositional rule, and understanding may require some cultural or idiomatic awareness despite similar expressions existing in many languages.
Etymology
The idiom one foot in the grave shows a clear picture of someone with one foot already in the grave and the other foot still outside. So, it means being 'very close to dying' or in very poor health.