go to the bow-wows

Verb

go to the bow-wows (third-person singular simple present goes to the bow-wows, present participle going to the bow-wows, simple past went to the bow-wows, past participle gone to the bow-wows)

1. (dated, idiomatic, informal) To go to the dogs, to decline or deteriorate.
   • With lavish hand his cash he spent,
     And with lightning speed to the bow-wows went
     And into the gutter fell.1896, Arthur G. Burgoyne, “Timon of Athens” in Shakespeare Up to Date, and Other Latter-Day Lyrics, Pittsburg: T. W. Nevin, p. 16
   • The robber barons of the Middle Ages were perfectly sure that civilization would go to the bow-wows if they were interfered with.1912, James Oneal, Militant Socialism, Saint Louis: The National RipSaw Publishing Co., p. 28