English

Noun

sinking ship ‎(plural sinking ships)

1. (idiomatic) Something which is doomed; a lost cause; an impending debacle; an ongoing disaster.
   • 1910, Mary Roberts Rinehart, When a Man Marries, ch. 2:

     He said that […] Bella had been perfectly right to leave him, because he was a sinking ship, and deserved to be turned out penniless into the world.

   • 1928, D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover, ch. 9:

     My word, won't it be funny when there's no Tevershall pit working. […] And now the men say it's a sinking ship, and it's time they all got out.

   • 2012 May 30, Haitham Maleh, "Opinion: A Peace Plan in Name Only," New York Times (retrieved 1 Aug 2012):

     [T]he only future for Syria is without the Assad political dynasty. […] The government is a sinking ship.

Derived terms

• like rats from a sinking ship

Translations