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Synonyms

take a bath

Idioms  
  1. Experience serious financial loss, as in The company took a bath investing in that new product. This idiom, which originated in gambling, transfers washing oneself in a bathtub to being “cleaned out” financially. [Slang; first half of 1900s]


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:

Ash pointed out that “gold often falls when equities take a bath to cover losing positions on a trading book.”

From Barron's Mar. 13, 2026

Every day the baby and I take a bath together.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 27, 2024

“It’s very difficult when you get up in the morning and you can’t take a bath, you can’t shower,” Mack Williams, 59, said as he picked up bottled water from a county distribution site.

From Seattle Times Jan. 30, 2024

"I needed to take a bath every time. My dad would even sprinkle some water over my camera before taking it inside the studio."

From BBC Sep. 20, 2023

Well, that’s what she meant when she told me to take a bath.

From "Fourth Grade Rats" by Jerry Spinelli

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