Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

plughole

 noun
     
Related topics: Household
plug‧hole [countable] British English
1DH the hole in a bath or sink that the water flows out of, and which you can put a plug into [= drain American English]
2

go down the plughole

informal
a) if work or effort goes down the plughole, it is completely wasted:
Two years of hard work went right down the plughole.
b) if a business goes down the plughole, it fails and has to close
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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