lose out
Britishverb
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(intr, adverb) to be defeated or unsuccessful
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to fail to secure or make use of
we lost out on the sale
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Fail to succeed, be defeated, as in The election's over, and you've lost out . [Mid-1800s]
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Also, . Miss an opportunity to participate, as in We came so late that we lost out on our chance to see her dance , or The Republicans lost out in last fall's elections . [ Colloquial ; mid-1900s] Also see miss out on .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Fifa point to their unconfirmed sales figures as validation of their unfair ticket practices, while the reality is they leave loyal fans with no other choice - pay up or lose out," Evain said.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
If so, Super Micro could lose out on its supply of Nvidia graphics processing units, “which in turn could have devastating impact” on the server maker, Newman wrote.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026
Another one is that Oracle’s legacy businesses could lose out to AI.
From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026
Advisers would lose out on that if you redeem your shares but could theoretically earn another fee if you chose to reinvest the money into a mutual fund.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
I realized that Fito was concerned that he’d scared me away and that if he had, he would lose out on the rent he would be getting from us.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
