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
Rubio will either sink or swim in his precarious position.
—
Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 13 Jan. 2026
Freshman point guard Phillip Reed Jr. of Palisades entered high school ready to sink or swim going against varsity players who were stronger and more experienced.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
So if the actors aren’t fantastic, the movie is going to sink or swim based on that.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 8 Jan. 2026
Beyond Simmons, which shows will receive preferential placement, and which will be left to sink or swim?
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 7 Jan. 2026
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
Oftentimes the early career experience is pretty much sink or swim for everybody, regardless of gender.
—Gwendolyn Rak, IEEE Spectrum, 16 June 2025
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Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 13 Jan. 2026
Freshman point guard Phillip Reed Jr. of Palisades entered high school ready to sink or swim going against varsity players who were stronger and more experienced.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
So if the actors aren’t fantastic, the movie is going to sink or swim based on that.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 8 Jan. 2026
Beyond Simmons, which shows will receive preferential placement, and which will be left to sink or swim?
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 7 Jan. 2026
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
Oftentimes the early career experience is pretty much sink or swim for everybody, regardless of gender.
—Gwendolyn Rak, IEEE Spectrum, 16 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sink or swim.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sink%20or%20swim. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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