down the road

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down the road

1. (idiomatic) Further along, in terms of time or progress.

   Synonyms: down the line, down the track, later on

   They decided to save money by using the cheapest components available, but down the road they ran into problems with reliability.

   • 1980 December 6, Cindy Rizzo, Nancy Toder, “Jewish, Lesbian, Feminist, Psychologist, Author—All of the above and more”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 20, page 8:

     Sometimes I go to the bars and see these kids and think about the meaninglessness and the emptiness that they'll be feeling five or six years down the road when they're tired of partying.

   • 2006 March 31, David Gow, “Ten years down the road: car giant foresees the non-polluting, accident-proof saloon”, in The Guardian‎:

     Ten years down the road: car giant foresees the non-polluting, accident-proof saloon [title]

   • 2015 February 26, Francis S. Collins, Harold Varmus, “A New Initiative on Precision Medicine”, in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 372, number 9, →DOI, page 795:

     Although the precision medicine initiative will probably yield its greatest benefits years down the road, there should be some notable near-term successes.

2. (slang) Dismissed; fired from one's employment.
   • 1977, Mother Jones Magazine, volume 2, number 4, page 65:

     Those dudes framed a full side wall a foot too high and it was clearly marked on the layout. They got sent down the road — and deserved it.

   • 1989, United States. National Labor Relations Board, Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, page 517:

     […] not only did he observe Doran and Angle drinking beer during the lunch, but also he said right then to both, "Look don't do it in front of me. I just got up here. It's company policy, you know. Any other time you're going to be sent down the road."

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see down,‎ road.

   There's a shop down the road that sells a few basic necessities.

• down the road, not across the street

• kick the can down the road

• Tony Thorne (2014) “down the road”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London,  […]: Bloomsbury