strike out
Meaning: To fail completely, especially in an attempt to attract someone.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “He asked three people to dance and struck out every time.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From baseball, where a batter who misses three good pitches strikes out. The figurative sense of failing at an attempt is American from the 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: comerse un rosco — literally: to eat a ring-shaped pastry
More idioms — Daily Life
- nothing doing — Refusal; there is no chance of that happening.
- be in the know — To have information that most people do not have.
- be off one's game — To perform worse than usual.
- be miles away — To be lost in thought and not paying attention.
- take one's ball and go home — To quit in a sulk and spoil the activity for everyone else.
- give and take — Mutual compromise, where each side concedes something.
More English idioms
- clear as day — Completely obvious.
- have had it up to here — To be completely fed up.
- sly as a fox — Very cunning.
- walk a tightrope — To be in a situation where one small mistake would be disastrous.
- a spare tire — A roll of fat around the waist.
- count one's chickens before they hatch — To rely on something good before it has actually happened.
From our proverbs
- Wedding and ill-wintering tame both man and beast. — Harsh conditions and major life commitments force humans and animals alike to abandon wil…
- Who weds ere he be wise shall die ere he thrive. — Marrying without maturity leads to a life of struggle and premature decline.
- Welcome is the best dish on the table. — Genuine hospitality and warmth matter more to guests than the quality or abundance of foo…