down for the count

English

Etymology

A metaphorical reference to the sport of boxing, where a contestant loses a match if knocked down and unable to get up before a referee has counted to ten.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

down for the count (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Decisively beaten; defeated; rendered irrelevant for the long term.
   • 1912, Harold MacGrath, chapter 7, in The Place of Honeymoons:

     “But what puts me down for the count is the action of the fellow. Never showed up; just made her miss two performances.”

   • 1991 November 4, Allan Kozinn, “Despite Odds, Many of Them, A Bedeviled Orchestra Persists”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     But every time the music world thought it was down for the count, the orchestra has managed to rise again.

   • 2002 March 11, “Veni, Vidi, Gucci”, in Time‎^[2], archived from the original on 2013-05-11:

     So, while Europe is still groggy and the U.S. is just starting to show signs of a pulse (and Japan of course is still down for the count), little Korea will grow anywhere from 3.2% to 6% this year.

2. (figurative) Unconscious or sound asleep.

Related terms

• countout (noun)
• count out (verb)

 

See also

• lost to the world
• saved by the bell