loss leader

American  

noun

1. a popular article that is sold at a very low price or at a loss for the purpose of attracting customers to a retail store.

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loss leader British  

noun

1. an article offered below cost in the hope that customers attracted by it will buy other goods

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Other Word Forms

• loss-leading adjective

Etymology

Origin of loss leader

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Yet only now is the group visiting sold-out baseball parks — and without even the loss leader of new music to help drum up interest in its show.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 27, 2025

A loss leader and a billboard food for nearly every casino on the Strip, prime rib became the perfect dish for a town branding itself as the vacationland of middle-class luxury.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 25, 2023

Instead, carrots are a "battleground for supermarkets", where they use them as a loss leader, he says.

From BBC • Dec. 19, 2023

Houck added that bottomless mimosas are considered a "loss leader" or "an item sold at a loss with the goal of getting diners to spend more on other items."

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2023

I just have to write the truck off as a short-term loss leader, because when it comes down to it, I’m no longer in a position to negotiate.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman