fall between the cracks

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fall between the cracks (third-person singular simple present falls between the cracks, present participle falling between the cracks, simple past fell between the cracks, past participle fallen between the cracks)

1. (idiomatic) To wind up in an unexpected situation which is, inadvertently, invisible to or not handled by whatever process one had hoped to be subject to; to be overlooked.

   I submitted my application for student finance months ago, but haven't heard back. I think I've fallen between the cracks.

• fall between two stools
• fall through the cracks