take a bath

idiomatic phrase

informal

: to suffer a heavy financial loss

take a bath on an investment

ESPN also is expected to take a bath in the first year of its new, four-year, $450 million NFL football package … . Combined baseball and NFL losses may eat up as much as $60 million this year alone.

—John Steinbreder

Apollo Global Management and TPG, the two private equity giants in the 2008 leveraged buyout of Caesars, took a bath on the company before exiting the investment several months ago.

—Christopher Palmeri

Examples of take a bath in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Dunk the ends of a lock of your hair in a cup of water (or take a bath, any excuse), and see if your hair floats, sinks, or stays somewhere in the middle. —Talia Gutierrez, Glamour, 30 Sep. 2025

At the invitation of the king of Sicily, Minos takes a bath in his host’s palace, as is traditional. —Seamus Sullivan september 29, Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025

Reading a book, taking a bath or journaling are good alternatives to screens. —Jp Shaffer july 7, Charlotte Observer, 7 July 2025

Davis, who uses a walker, can't take a bath with epsom salt to relieve pain in her knees and hip. —Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 3 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for take a bath

• osteopath
• aftermath
• multipath
• psychopath
• bloodbath
• footpath
• towpath
• warpath
• hath
• lath
• math
• path