intransitive. To perish, come to nought, go wrong.

intransitive. To give way, collapse; to fail, falter. Esp. with up.

Of an abstract thing (in later use influenced by sense 5a). intransitive. Of an action, undertaking, state, etc.: (originally) to fail, break down…

To bring to nought, render useless; to frustrate (an enterprise); to destroy, lay waste, ruin. Also intransitive for reflexive.

to come to nothing: to have no significant or successful result or effect in the end; to fail, to amount to nothing.

intransitive. Of persons: To desist (in later use, to desist through exhaustion of strength or patience). Of an implement, a limb, a machine, etc…

to fall to the ground and variants: to come to nothing; esp. (of an argument, theory, etc.) to be shown to be false or invalid; (of a plan or…

intransitive and transitive = quail, v.2 (in various senses).

In proverbial, figurative, or allusive uses. to come to, end in, vanish into, smoke, to come to nothing, be unrealized, be without result.

intransitive. To fall through, fall to the ground, come to nothing.

Phrases. to fall to dirt: to fall to the ground, to come to nothing; so to be all in the dirt, to lay all in the dirt, and the like. Obsolete.

intransitive. Of a plan or arrangement, esp. for marriage: to fail to be carried out, fall through. Now rare.

intransitive. Originally North American. Of a plan, agreement, project, etc.: to fail to be carried through; to come to nothing.

intransitive. Of a system, institution, plan, etc.: to stop functioning; to become ineffective or unsuccessful; to fail, come to nothing.

transferred and figurative. To break down, come to nothing, fail; to lose force suddenly.

to run into the sand (also, now less commonly, sands): to come to nothing; to peter out.

figurative. to blow up. To go to pieces, give out, fail. Chiefly U.S. slang.

intransitive. slang. Of a person: to be unsuccessful, fail; to perform badly. Of a situation, plan, etc.: to fall through, go wrong; to come to…