"circle the drain" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "circles the drain",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "circling the drain",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "circled the drain",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "circled the drain",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "circle the drain (third-person singular simple present circles the drain, present participle circling the drain, simple past and past participle circled the drain)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1989 January 29, Brian D. Johnston, “L.A.'s Crippled Emergency Care:”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2010-10-17",
          "text": "Our emergency medical services are, nonetheless, circling the drain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 October 10, Belinda Luscombe, “Just What the Economy Needs: A $5,000 Toilet”, in Time",
          "text": "Presciently, the high-end Japanese bathroom-fixtures manufacturer Toto chose a time when the economy is circling the drain to launch its newest product—a $5,000 commode with a super-efficient flush.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Douglas Coupland, Generation A, page 234",
          "text": "Needless to say, the guy on the phone would be watching his life circle the drain, imagining the horrific press and the life-destroying damage this false accusation would cause.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be in rapid decline or a state of downfall, especially as leading to inevitable utter failure or destruction."
      ],
      "id": "en-circle_the_drain-en-verb-jEGuN6r1",
      "links": [
        [
          "rapid",
          "rapid"
        ],
        [
          "decline",
          "decline"
        ],
        [
          "downfall",
          "downfall"
        ],
        [
          "inevitable",
          "inevitable"
        ],
        [
          "utter",
          "utter"
        ],
        [
          "failure",
          "failure"
        ],
        [
          "destruction",
          "destruction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be in rapid decline or a state of downfall, especially as leading to inevitable utter failure or destruction."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "down the drain"
        },
        {
          "word": "down the tubes"
        },
        {
          "word": "downward spiral"
        },
        {
          "word": "go down the toilet"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-circle the drain.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1c/En-au-circle_the_drain.ogg/En-au-circle_the_drain.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/En-au-circle_the_drain.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "circle the drain"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "circles the drain",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "circling the drain",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "circled the drain",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "circled the drain",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "circle the drain (third-person singular simple present circles the drain, present participle circling the drain, simple past and past participle circled the drain)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "down the drain"
    },
    {
      "word": "down the tubes"
    },
    {
      "word": "downward spiral"
    },
    {
      "word": "go down the toilet"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1989 January 29, Brian D. Johnston, “L.A.'s Crippled Emergency Care:”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2010-10-17",
          "text": "Our emergency medical services are, nonetheless, circling the drain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 October 10, Belinda Luscombe, “Just What the Economy Needs: A $5,000 Toilet”, in Time",
          "text": "Presciently, the high-end Japanese bathroom-fixtures manufacturer Toto chose a time when the economy is circling the drain to launch its newest product—a $5,000 commode with a super-efficient flush.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Douglas Coupland, Generation A, page 234",
          "text": "Needless to say, the guy on the phone would be watching his life circle the drain, imagining the horrific press and the life-destroying damage this false accusation would cause.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be in rapid decline or a state of downfall, especially as leading to inevitable utter failure or destruction."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rapid",
          "rapid"
        ],
        [
          "decline",
          "decline"
        ],
        [
          "downfall",
          "downfall"
        ],
        [
          "inevitable",
          "inevitable"
        ],
        [
          "utter",
          "utter"
        ],
        [
          "failure",
          "failure"
        ],
        [
          "destruction",
          "destruction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be in rapid decline or a state of downfall, especially as leading to inevitable utter failure or destruction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-circle the drain.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1c/En-au-circle_the_drain.ogg/En-au-circle_the_drain.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/En-au-circle_the_drain.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "circle the drain"
}