English Explanatory Dictionary

to hell in a handbasket

English dictionary entry

Meanings

prep_phrase
  1. To go to a bad state of affairs quickly.

Pronunciation

En-au-to hell in a handbasket.ogg

Word forms

to hell in a handbasket to hell in a handcart

Etymology

Images in church iconography suggest similar phrases may date back to 1515. The first attestation is from 1682, the variation to hell in a handcart is attested since 1841, and a phrase similar to to heaven in a wheelbarrow is first attested in 1618. The popularity of the variation "to hell in a handbasket" may be connected to its alliteration.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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