one foot in the grave


one foot in the grave

On the verge of death. When I had the flu last week, I felt like I had one foot in the grave. The way the nurses are talking, it sounds like Great-Uncle Edmund is already one foot in the grave—you had better come to the hospital quick.See also: foot, grave, one

one foot in the grave

If someone has one foot in the grave, they are very ill or very old and are likely to die soon. Just because I'm 79, you think I've got one foot in the grave! Note: You use this expression when you are talking about illness and death in a humorous way. See also: foot, grave, one

one foot in the grave

On the verge of death. This graphic hyperbole was already being used in the sixteenth century, when William Painter wrote (The Pallace of Pleasure, 1566), “Takyng paines to visite him, who hath one of his feet alreadie within the graue, and the other stepping after with conuenient speede.”See also: foot, grave, one