go under

verb — 6 senses

go under

verb

1

To descend into a body of water; to founder.

The boat was too heavy and went under.

2

Idiomatic To collapse or fail, e.g. by going bankrupt.

In the crisis, the company was forced to reduce its costs in order to avoid going under.

3

Idiomatic To die.

If we don't get him to a doctor, he'll go under for sure.
Good for a fortnight, am I? The doctor told you? He lied. I shall go under by morning, and—— Put that nurse outside.1896, Rudyard Kipling, The Mary Gloster:

4

Idiomatic To be named; to call oneself.

He goes under the name of Mr X to remain anonymous.

5

To enter a trance, state of hypnosis, etc.

"But I went under nicely and I am glad there were some fine materializations."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

6

Australia, Slang To be imprisoned.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.