be past (the/one's) sell-by date



be past (the/one's) sell-by date

1. Literally, to be past the date by which an edible item should be sold before it spoils. That milk is definitely past the sell-by date—it's curdled!
2. By extension, to be past the peak of one's abilities or career. The company is forcing my mother to retire because they think she's past her sell-by date. That player is definitely past his sell-by date—he hasn't had a good season in years.
See also: date, past

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
RainbowRAYN-boEnglish (Rare)
Tornike-Georgian
GeneJEENEnglish
Borislavbah-ree-SLAHF (Russian)Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Russian, Medieval Slavic
Ekaitz-Basque
Bibigul-Kazakh