Have one foot in the grave
Meaning
To be extremely old or seriously ill, indicating that death is imminent.
Origin
Imagine a weary traveler, bent with age, standing at the very edge of an open burial pit. One foot remains on solid ground, connected to the world of the living, while the other hovers perilously over the dark abyss, already committed, it seems, to the earth's final embrace. This stark, visual metaphor for impending death, born in 17th-century England, quickly embedded itself in the English lexicon. In an era when life spans were tragically brief and the specter of mortality loomed large, the phrase served as a chillingly vivid and universally understood description of someone who, whether through extreme old age or severe illness, was undoubtedly on their last legs, metaphorically poised to descend into the grave at any moment.
Examples
- My grandmother, at 98 and frail, often jokes that she has one foot in the grave, but she's still sharp as a tack.
- After the accident, he was so badly injured that the doctors thought he had one foot in the grave, but he made a miraculous recovery.