idiom · neutral
go belly up
UK/ɡəʊ ˈbɛli ʌp/US/ɡoʊ ˈbɛli ʌp/go·BEL·ly·UP
speakingtask2
to fail completely or go bankrupt, especially a business
Examples
“The small café went belly up after the rent doubled.”
“Many start‑ups go belly up within their first two years.”
“If the government subsidy ends, the scheme may go belly up.”
Band 8 sentence
“Without sufficient capital or demand, several regional retailers went belly up within months of opening.”
Collocations
- go belly up
- business went belly up
Word family
go belly up verb phrasebelly up adverbial/idiom
Common mistakes
The company belly up last year.→The company went belly up last year.
It belly‑upped.→It went belly up.
Say it for a higher band
5fail→6go bankrupt→7+go belly up
Synonyms
go bankrupt
collapse
Easily confused
go bankrupt
“After several bad quarters, the retailer finally went bankrupt.”
Related words
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