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Meaning & use

its days are numbered

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UK/ɪts ˌdeɪz ə ˈnʌmbəd/
US/ɪts ˌdeɪz ər ˈnʌmbərd/

Meanings

  1. phrasefixed phrase

    used to say that something or someone will soon stop existing, end, or lose a position.

    Grammar: The possessive changes with the subject: its days are numbered, her days are numbered, their days are numbered.

    Patterns

    • something's days are numbered
    • someone's days are numbered as something

    The old factory has been losing money for years, and its days are numbered.

    After the scandal, everyone knew the manager's days were numbered.

    Print newspapers may not disappear tomorrow, but their days are numbered.

  2. phrasefixed phrasefigurative

    used about a person who is expected to die or be removed very soon.

    Grammar: Often used with the verbs seem, look, or be; it sounds grave when used about a real person's life.

    Patterns

    • someone's days are numbered
    • someone's days as something are numbered

    Doctors told the family that the old man's days were numbered.

    The dictator's days seemed numbered once the protests spread across the country.

Common combinations

its days are numbered
The company is in debt, and its days are numbered.
someone's days are numbered
Once the coach lost the players' support, his days were numbered.
their days are numbered
Many people believe that cash machines' days are numbered.
to know that its days are numbered
The staff knew that the project's days were numbered long before it closed.

Synonyms and how they differ

on its last legs
Describes something that is old or failing and almost worn out; it stresses current weakness rather than a coming end.
doomed
A single adjective meaning certain to fail or be destroyed; stronger and more direct than this idiom.
living on borrowed time
Suggests someone has already survived longer than expected, whereas this idiom points forward to a fast-approaching end.

Opposites

here to staygoing strong

Word family

number verb
To count things or give them an order, as in 'number the pages'.
numbered adjective
Having a number, or limited in quantity, as in 'numbered seats'.
numberless adjective
Too many to count; very many.

Commonly confused: its days are numbered or its days are over? its days are numbered or it's days are numbered?

its days are numbered vs its days are over

This means the thing has already finished, not that it will finish soon. 'Its days are numbered' looks to the future.

its days are numbered vs it's days are numbered

'It's' means 'it is'; the idiom needs the possessive 'its' without an apostrophe.

Practice

The small bookshop has lost customers for years, so ______.

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