a nail in the/someone's coffin

idiom

: something that makes it more likely that someone or something will fail, be destroyed, etc.
Every mistake is one more nail in the coffin of his professional baseball career.
The lawyers put another nail in her coffin today.

Examples of a nail in the/someone's coffin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This was less a sporting event and more a nail in the coffin of the next four years of U.S. culture. Kate Lindsay, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2024 The whole purpose was to put a nail in the coffin of my music career. Liza Lentini, SPIN, 24 June 2024

Dictionary Entries Near a nail in the/someone's coffin

Anáhuac

a nail in the/someone's coffin

Anakim

Cite this Entry

“A nail in the/someone's coffin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/a%20nail%20in%20the%2Fsomeone%27s%20coffin. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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