go down in flames—
1. be destroyed by fire:
- When the house went down in flames, the mayor accused McCown’s followers of burning it.
2. (also: go down in smoke) fail or end suddenly; come to nothing:
- It’s interesting to look back and see how many of our plans went down in flames.
go up in flames—(also: go up in smoke)
1. = go down in flames 1:
- A spark from the unscreened fireplace set fire to a bear rug and the house went up in flames.
2. = go down in flames 2:
- Unfortunately, that whole project went up in flames because those guys ended up in a bitter quarrel.