when one's ship comes in

when one's ship comes in idiom
When one has made one's fortune, as in When my ship comes in I'll get a Mercedes or better. This term alludes to ships returning from far-off places with a cargo of valuables. It may be obsolescent. [Mid-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.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.