loss leader

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.

loss leader

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• loss-leading adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of loss leader¹

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.

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This is because carrots are often chosen as "loss leaders" in supermarkets.

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Experts told the Pepperoni team it was a loss leader; only supermarkets could turn a profit by bringing in bananas from South America.

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“Dairy is a ‘loss leader’ at the grocery store,” she said, and is often the major incentive for other items in the store.

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In the early decades of the TV, it was acceptable for news to be a financial loss leader.

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