take a bath

Idioms and Phrases

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

West was 14 years older as Walton entered UCLA, one a proven superstar and the other a very promising but unproven freshman, one an adult who took pride in dressing well and the other a teenager so unkempt, to the point of slobbish, that West wanted to tell him to take a bath.

From Los Angeles Times

“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

The kids were especially amazed to hear how he had to lug water from the creek just to wash dishes or take a bath.

From Literature

“When I would go take a bath, I would have to call my child to come in and sit next to me in the bath because I’m scared.”

From Los Angeles Times

Every day, Davida Wynn sets herself one task: Take a bath.

From New York Times

Related Words

• douse
• drench
• float
• hose
• moisten
• rinse
• scrub
• shower
• soak
• wash up
• wet
• wipe