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.
If the company did collapse, they would be likely to lose out on much of the value of what they are owed.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
A grandchild who gets scholarships or attends a less expensive school doesn’t lose out.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
And if we just keep it isolated to Hollywood, I think we lose out at expressing everything we are as Americans.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026
Arbitrators who are employed time and time again by the same companies with a large number of contracts that require arbitration may be loath to rule against them and lose out on their next paycheck.
From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026
Pained by what he saw as his country's decline, Gordievsky believed that his country's only hope for survival was to lose out to the West and to open itself up to democratic ideas.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
