fut

A soccer ball goes *fut* as it flies past the goalkeeper.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • A hissing sound, such as the sound of air escaping from a tyre or the whizzing sound of a bullet in flight.

2. Adverb (in the phrase "to go phut"):

   • To collapse, break down, or fail completely (used to describe a plan, scheme, or mechanism).

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The tyre let out a sudden fut as the air escaped. (The hissing sound of air leaking.)
  • We heard the fut of the bullet flying past. (The whizzing sound of a bullet in motion.)

• Adverb (in "to go phut"):

  • All our weekend plans went phut when it started raining. (The plans failed completely.)
  • The old engine finally went phut after years of use. (The engine broke down and stopped working.)

Advanced Usage

• "to go phut" is a fixed idiomatic expression meaning to fail or collapse suddenly. It is informal and often used in British English.
  • His business venture went phut within a year. (The business failed abruptly.)

Variants and Related Words

• Phut (alternate spelling): The same as "fut", used interchangeably.
  • The balloon burst with a loud phut. (A similar hissing or popping sound.)

Synonyms

• Hiss (n): a sound like that of air escaping.
• Pfft (informal, interjection): used to imitate a sudden, soft sound of failure or disappearance.
  • The idea went pfft—nobody was interested. (It failed without impact.)

Related Idioms

• Go up in smoke: to fail or be wasted completely.

  • All his hard work went up in smoke. (Similar to "went phut".)

• Fall through: to fail to happen or be completed.

  • Our holiday plans fell through at the last minute. (Equivalent to "went phut".)