come to grief

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come to grief (third-person singular simple present comes to grief, present participle coming to grief, simple past came to grief, past participle come to grief)

1. (idiomatic) To suffer a disastrous outcome.
   • J. R. R. Tolkien

     These elves and half-elves and wizards, they would come to grief perhaps.

   • 1960 March, H. P. White, “The Hawkhurst branch of the Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 170:

     Immediately beyond Churn Lane the climb begins at 1 in 78, steepening to 1 in 66. Speed soon falls and a number of heavy hop-pickers' specials have come to grief here.