to deep six
1
8.6
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
deshacerse de
- In the meeting, they agreed to deep six any discussions about the failed strategy.
Those the agencies that regulated those industries have been deep sixed gone, completely gone.
- Those the agencies that regulated those industries have been deep sixed gone, completely gone.
Examples
-
Let me deep six this.
-
I say we deep six the heads.
-
So, let's deep six that right now.
Blog text (11) -
I just deep sixed two heads.
-
Those the agencies that regulated those industries have been deep sixed gone, completely gone.
-
I'll deep-six the bills, sweetie-pie, she says.
Fiction book (2001) -
The team decided to deep six the outdated project to focus on more promising ideas.
-
After the scandal, the company chose to deep six the flawed product line completely.
Synonyms
541
2.6
To drop or throw things away in a careless way
477
1.8
To get rid of something you do not want, for example by putting it in the bin
202
1.8
To put something in the trash because you do not want it
149
3.4
Get rid of something by throwing it away, selling it, or giving it to someone
130
2.7
To throw something away because you no longer want or need it
56
4.1
Deal with and finish a problem or task so it no longer causes trouble
39
2.7
To throw away things you do not want
34
1.0
To throw away something you no longer want
30
3.7
To throw away something that is no longer useful
13
3.0
To throw away things that are no longer useful
5
2.0
To throw something away because you no longer want or need it
1
3.7
To throw away things you do not want
To throw something away and stop using it
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
deep + six
The sense 'to dispose of or discard' is not derivable from the literal meanings of 'deep' (extreme in depth) and 'six' (the numeral); there is no transparent compositional relation tying those constituents to discarding. This is an idiomatic, likely historical/jargon usage where the numeral has no predictable semantic role, so a B1 learner who knows the words would not infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase deep six may come from old sailors who threw things they wanted to hide into deep water, and the number six was used to mean a very deep spot. That's why to deep six something now means 'to get rid of' or 'to discard'.