Idiom
dead men's shoes
Meaning
A position or property that is only attainable by someone else upon the current holder's death.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He is waiting for dead men's shoes to get that promotion.”
“The young assistant spent years working in the office, hoping to step into dead men's shoes when his boss retired.”
“The ambitious heir grew tired of waiting for dead men's shoes and began plotting to accelerate his father's departure from the company.”
Examples
simple
“He is waiting for dead men's shoes to get that promotion.”
contextual
“The young assistant spent years working in the office, hoping to step into dead men's shoes when his boss retired.”
complex
“The ambitious heir grew tired of waiting for dead men's shoes and began plotting to accelerate his father's departure from the company.”
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated