go under

verb

went under; gone under; going under; goes under

intransitive verb

1
: sink entry 1 sense 1a
The ship went under in the storm.
2
: to be overwhelmed, destroyed, or defeated : fail
The company went under during the recession.

Examples of go under 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.
Being unable to make the payment, the company’s data was lost, and the 158-year-old business went under. Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025 His play has gone under the radar, but Brown has quietly had a strong season for the Hurricanes as part of their outside cornerback rotation. Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025 As the city was planning a drought pipeline in 2015, officials estimated a 5% chance that the Colorado River would go under official shortages in Arizona, and yet that exact scenario came true less than a decade later. Austin Corona, AZCentral.com, 6 Nov. 2025 Earlier this year, Matthew O'Brien and David White, two of those judges let go under President Joe Biden, were reinstated at immigration courts in Virginia. Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 6 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for go under

Word History

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of go under was in 1820

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Cite this Entry

“Go under.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/go%20under. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.

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