Well attestedNamed from the place
meet one's Waterloo
verb · first attested 19th century
Almost none of the battle of Waterloo was fought at Waterloo.
To suffer the decisive defeat that ends a run of success.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- verb
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Waterloo
- In English
meet one's Waterloo
Wellington wrote his victory dispatch from the village of Waterloo in June 1815, and British practice named the battle after his headquarters rather than the slopes at Mont-Saint-Jean where the fighting actually happened. The idiom spread in American English within a few decades of the battle.
Also pinned to Waterloo
1 more from the same place
Belgium
All 12 entries 10 more words from Belgium
spaEvery spa is named for one Belgian town.SpaduffelThe bag is named for a Flemish town.DuffelMechlinThe lace carries the English name for Mechelen.MechelenBrussels sproutThe vegetable is named for a city that cultivated it.Brusselscafé liégeoisA Viennese dessert renamed for the Belgian city that slowed the German advance.Liègeduffel bagThe bag is named for a Flemish town that sold the cloth, not the bag.Duffelduffel coatNamed for a Belgian town that made the cloth, not the coat.DuffelLimburger cheeseThe smell comes from a bacterium that also lives on human skin.Limburg