Definition

Verb phrase (idiomatic): - To rapidly collapse, die, or drop out in large numbers: This phrase describes a situation where many people or things succumb to a negative condition (such as illness, exhaustion, or failure) quickly and in succession.

Usage

This phrase is used to emphasize the speed and scale of failure, withdrawal, or collapse. It is often used in informal contexts to describe groups affected by intense heat, a difficult challenge, a widespread illness, or severe conditions.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is almost always used in a continuous tense (e.g., ) or with an auxiliary verb like "begin to" to describe an ongoing process of rapid attrition.
• It can be applied metaphorically to non-living things, such as businesses or projects, that fail rapidly in succession.
  • Small businesses dropped like flies during the economic recession.

Variants and Related Words

• Fall by the wayside: To give up or fail while others continue. This phrase suggests a slower or more individual attrition compared to the rapid, mass failure implied by "drop like flies."

Synonyms

• Succumb en masse: To die or give in as a group.
• Perish rapidly: To die quickly.
• Fall in droves: To fall or fail in large numbers (less emphasis on speed).

Related Idioms

• Go down like ninepins: (British English) To fall or be defeated quickly and in large numbers, similar to bowling pins being knocked down.
  • The team's defense went down like ninepins in the second half.

Verb

1. rapidly collapse, die, or drop out in large numbers
   • the contestants dropped like flies when the thermometer hit one hundred degrees