bathwater

American

[bath-waw-ter, -wot-er, bahth-] / ˈbæθˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər, ˈbɑθ- /

noun

water for bathing.

He ran the bathwater while he shaved.

idioms

throw out the baby with the bathwater, to eliminate or reject the good along with the bad.

Etymology

Origin of bathwater

First recorded in 1910–15; bath ¹ + water

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.

See Examples For:

bathwater

It’s protecting against bad behavior, and when we throw the baby of insight out with the bathwater of gossip, we are leaving a lot of information on the table.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Plenty of babies are being thrown out with the bathwater, it would seem.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 14, 2026

Software stocks are getting crushed again, and babies are getting thrown out with the bathwater.

From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026

But now, they seem to be throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2025

I find bathwater waiting for me, but it has gone tepid.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023