breathe down someone's neck

Meaning

This expression means to monitor someone very closely, often in an annoying, intrusive, or pressuring way. It is typically used in work or school contexts when a boss, manager, or parent is constantly checking up on your progress. The tone is usually frustrated or exasperated.

Examples

• I can't get any work done with the manager breathing down my neck all day.

  I can't get any work done with the manager breathing down my neck all day.

• She hates it when her parents breathe down her neck about her college applications.

  She hates it when her parents breathe down her neck about her college applications.

• Just let me do my job without breathing down my neck every five minutes.

  Just let me do my job without breathing down my neck every five minutes.

• The micro-managing boss was always breathing down his team's neck.

  The micro-managing boss was always breathing down his team's neck.

• I have my editor breathing down my neck because the deadline was yesterday.

  I have my editor breathing down my neck because the deadline was yesterday.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ My boss is breathing on my neck to finish the report.

  ✓ My boss is breathing down my neck to finish the report.

  The correct preposition is 'down', not 'on'. Using 'on' makes it sound literal and physically uncomfortable rather than figurative supervision.

• ✗ I don't like when you breathe down my head.

  ✓ I don't like when you breathe down my neck.

  The idiom specifically uses the word 'neck' to describe the feeling of someone standing right behind you.

Related Expressions

Practice

• I need you to stop ___ my neck; I know how to do my job.

  💡 Use the continuous -ing form of the verb.

  Show answer

  breathing down

• With the supervisor breathing down our ___, we made several mistakes.

  💡 Plural form of the body part.

  Show answer

  necks