sink or swim
idiom
—used to refer to a situation in which someone either must succeed by his or her own efforts or fail completely
They left me to sink or swim on my own.
In this job, it's sink or swim.
Examples of sink or swim in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Packers fielded the NFL’s youngest team each of the last two seasons, and let many of those players sink or swim.
—
Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2025
The deadline decisions might sink or swim based on a key element – the return of injured players like starting pitcher Blake Snell (Saturday), third baseman Max Muncy (next week) and relievers Michael Kopech and Brusdar Graterol (optimistically, in September).
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 31 July 2025
As discussed by Forbes when highlighting Mamdani’s tax plans, these progressive policies being proposed now in many jurisdictions have the potential to sink or swim a city.
—Nathan Goldman, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
While the Angels manager, Ron Washington, has been sidelined due to health issues, the Angels are in sink or swim mode heading to the trade deadline.
—Hunter Mulholland, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 June 2025
The rest, in an era of lax to nonexistent child labor laws, had long since been tossed into the workforce to sink or swim or lose a hand in a factory mishap.
—Bruce Handy, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Arsenal at home on weekend one — August 16 to August 19 — is sink or swim for Manchester United.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 18 June 2025
And Zaslav is putting the old-fashioned cable channels on their own life raft to sink or swim on their own.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 9 June 2025
Will Arne Slot sink or swim as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool?
—The Athletic Uk Staff, The Athletic, 13 Aug. 2024
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Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2025
The deadline decisions might sink or swim based on a key element – the return of injured players like starting pitcher Blake Snell (Saturday), third baseman Max Muncy (next week) and relievers Michael Kopech and Brusdar Graterol (optimistically, in September).
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 31 July 2025
As discussed by Forbes when highlighting Mamdani’s tax plans, these progressive policies being proposed now in many jurisdictions have the potential to sink or swim a city.
—Nathan Goldman, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
While the Angels manager, Ron Washington, has been sidelined due to health issues, the Angels are in sink or swim mode heading to the trade deadline.
—Hunter Mulholland, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 June 2025
The rest, in an era of lax to nonexistent child labor laws, had long since been tossed into the workforce to sink or swim or lose a hand in a factory mishap.
—Bruce Handy, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Arsenal at home on weekend one — August 16 to August 19 — is sink or swim for Manchester United.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 18 June 2025
And Zaslav is putting the old-fashioned cable channels on their own life raft to sink or swim on their own.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 9 June 2025
Will Arne Slot sink or swim as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool?
—The Athletic Uk Staff, The Athletic, 13 Aug. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Sink or swim.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sink%20or%20swim. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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