fall flat

fall flat idiom
Fail, prove to be ineffective, as in His jokes nearly always fell flat—no one ever laughed at them. [First half of 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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