come a cropper BrE informal

Good to see him come a cropper now and then.

If there were others present, his plan had come a cropper.

He'll come a cropper one of these days, if you ask me.

When the stock market finally comes a cropper, everyone will want to say that they saw it coming, of course.

Not difficult to predict that he will come a cropper.

And each came a cropper when he put his second shot into the right bunker.

Needed to call in support fast, or this part of the mission was about to come a cropper, too.

He's very good on republics, how they always come a cropper, and why.

Five riders came a cropper and the meeting was abandoned.

And because those who see the present as a mere extension of the past usually come a cropper.

And he admitted this wasn't the first time his feet had come a cropper.

Some day, of course, she would come a cropper.

Sometimes Mom would come a cropper on the back-road scene.

People like to see public figures come a cropper.

Before long the house developed a reputation as a place where you could reliably expect to come a cropper.

"Oscar has done wonders, of course, but we have come a cropper again!

The first things I did came a cropper.

"And you've already come a cropper with this case.

That's where I come a cropper with women.

Of last season's bumper crop of new works, all too many came a cropper.

Such love is bound to come a cropper.

She closed it again, then made another stab at expressing herself, but this one likewise came a cropper.

By his tone and his demeanor he made it clear they'd come a cropper.

An irate football fan comes a cropper after taking his anger out on a seat.

OVER the summer, it seemed, bank stocks came a cropper.