one foot in the grave
Meaning
Very old, very ill, or close to death (sometimes exaggerated humorously).
Origin
Recorded since at least the 18th–19th centuries; it uses the physical image of already stepping into a grave to metaphorically mean being near death.
Notes
Quite blunt and often darkly humorous. Safer in self-reference; calling someone else this can sound rude. Can also be used metaphorically for failing things (companies, projects).
Examples
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After the heart attack, he joked that he had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
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At 92, she insists she’s not got one foot in the grave yet—she still travels every summer.
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The factory was already one foot in the grave before the new tariffs hit.
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If I stay up another night like this, I’ll have one foot in the grave by morning.
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They treated the old laptop like it had one foot in the grave, but it kept running somehow.
Grammar & Usage Notes
Usually used with forms of “be” (e.g., is/was) or “have,” often in “with one foot in the grave.” Fairly fixed; “one foot in the grave” is the standard wording.
Synonyms
- at death's door
- on one's last legs
- near the end
- at the end of the line
Antonyms
- in the prime of life
- hale and hearty
- full of life