knock on heaven's door
To die or be close to death.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The old dog is knocking on heaven's door.”
“The doctor told the family that their grandfather was knocking on heaven's door after his long illness.”
“As the storm raged outside and his strength faded, the weary traveler realized he was finally knocking on heaven's door.”
- 01
bang down the door
To present oneself as a strong candidate for a role or achievement, explicitly or implicitly.
- 02
blow the doors off
To be much more important or impressive than.
- 03
close the stable door after the horse has bolted
To attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred; to design and implement a preventive mechanism that is too late (after the first failure instead of before).
- 04
darken a church door
To go to church to attend a service.
- 05
darken someone's door
To arrive at someone's residence or location, especially as an unexpected visitor.
- 06
don't knock yourself out
Don't overexert yourself (in doing something that does not require much effort).
- 07
don't let the door hit you on the way out
Used as a command to leave in haste, or to indicate that one is glad, or at least unmoved, to see the addressed person leaving.
- 08
get one's foot in the door
To initiate contact or a relationship; to gain access, especially to an entry-level job.
Last updated August 10, 2026