🗓️ Idiom: A Sinking Ship (n)
💬 Meaning
- A project or situation that is failing or falling apart.
- Something that is going badly and is likely to fail.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Many team members left because they thought the project was a sinking ship.
- After so many delays and budget cuts, the product launch felt like a sinking ship.
- No one wants to stay on a sinking ship so I am looking for a new job.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the image of a ship that is going underwater. In business, it means a project, company, or plan that is failing and hard to save.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
After the second failed test, the software team felt like they were working on __________.
Answer
a sinking ship
2. Choose the correct meaning of “a sinking ship”:
A) A strong and successful team
B) A project that is failing
C) A fun group activity
D) A long meeting
Answer
B) A project that is failing
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“The team could tell the project was failing, so they wanted to leave.” → Change the sentence using: a sinking ship
Answer
The team could tell the project was a sinking ship, so they wanted to leave.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
