"throw the baby out with the bathwater" meaning in English

See throw the baby out with the bathwater in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /θɹəʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪð ðə ˈbɑːθwɔːtə(ɹ)/ [Received-Pronunciation], /θɹoʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪθ ðə ˈbæθwɔtɚ/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-throw the baby out with the bathwater.ogg [Australia] Forms: throws the baby out with the bathwater [present, singular, third-person], throwing the baby out with the bathwater [participle, present], threw the baby out with the bathwater [past], thrown the baby out with the bathwater [participle, past]
Etymology: From a German proverb that dates to 1512. First recorded by Thomas Murner in his satire Narrenbeschwörung. First appeared in English when Thomas Carlyle translated it and used it in an 1849 essay on slavery. Etymology templates: {{uder|en|de|-}} German Head templates: {{en-verb|throw<,,threw,thrown> the baby out with the bathwater}} throw the baby out with the bathwater (third-person singular simple present throws the baby out with the bathwater, present participle throwing the baby out with the bathwater, simple past threw the baby out with the bathwater, past participle thrown the baby out with the bathwater)
  1. (idiomatic) To discard, especially inadvertently, something valuable while in the process of removing or rejecting something unwanted. Wikipedia link: throw out the baby with the bath water Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: throw out the baby with the bathwater, throw out the baby with the bath water, throw the baby out with the bath water Translations ((idiomatic) to discard something valuable): vylít vaničku i s dítětem (Czech), kaste barnet ud med badevandet (Danish), smide barnet ud med badevandet (Danish), het kind met het badwater weggooien (Dutch), heittää lapsi pois pesuveden mukana (Finnish), heittää lapsi pesuveden mukana (Finnish), jeter le bébé avec l’eau du bain (French), das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten (German), לשפוך את התינוק עם המים (Hebrew), a fürdővízzel együtt a gyereket is kiönti (Hungarian), að kasta barninu út með baðvatninu (Icelandic), an t-asal a dhíol leis an adhastar (Irish), buttare il bambino con l'acqua sporca (Italian), helle barnet ut med badevannet (Norwegian Bokmål), kaste barnet ut med badevannet (Norwegian Bokmål), slå barnet ut med badevannet (Norwegian Bokmål), slå ut barnet med badevatnet (Norwegian Nynorsk), wylewać dziecko z kąpielą [imperfective] (Polish), wylać dziecko z kąpielą [perfective] (Polish), deitar fora a criança com a água do banho [Portugal] (Portuguese), jogar fora o bebê com a água do banho [Brazil] (Portuguese), вме́сте с водо́й вы́плеснуть и ребёнка (vméste s vodój výplesnutʹ i rebjónka) (Russian), вы́плеснуть ребёнка вме́сте с водо́й (výplesnutʹ rebjónka vméste s vodój) (Russian), kasta ut barnet med badvattnet (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for throw the baby out with the bathwater meaning in English (7.1kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "German",
      "name": "uder"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From a German proverb that dates to 1512. First recorded by Thomas Murner in his satire Narrenbeschwörung. First appeared in English when Thomas Carlyle translated it and used it in an 1849 essay on slavery.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "throws the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "throwing the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threw the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "thrown the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "throw<,,threw,thrown> the baby out with the bathwater"
      },
      "expansion": "throw the baby out with the bathwater (third-person singular simple present throws the baby out with the bathwater, present participle throwing the baby out with the bathwater, simple past threw the baby out with the bathwater, past participle thrown the baby out with the bathwater)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English undefined derivations",
          "parents": [
            "Undefined derivations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They cancelled the entire project because the new management didn't like the prototype, but I think they threw the baby out with the bathwater."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To discard, especially inadvertently, something valuable while in the process of removing or rejecting something unwanted."
      ],
      "id": "en-throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater-en-verb-~9qDTkUw",
      "links": [
        [
          "discard",
          "discard"
        ],
        [
          "inadvertently",
          "inadvertently"
        ],
        [
          "valuable",
          "valuable"
        ],
        [
          "process",
          "process"
        ],
        [
          "unwanted",
          "unwanted"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To discard, especially inadvertently, something valuable while in the process of removing or rejecting something unwanted."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "throw out the baby with the bathwater"
        },
        {
          "word": "throw out the baby with the bath water"
        },
        {
          "word": "throw the baby out with the bath water"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "vylít vaničku i s dítětem"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "kaste barnet ud med badevandet"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "smide barnet ud med badevandet"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "het kind met het badwater weggooien"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "heittää lapsi pois pesuveden mukana"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "heittää lapsi pesuveden mukana"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "jeter le bébé avec l’eau du bain"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "לשפוך את התינוק עם המים"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "a fürdővízzel együtt a gyereket is kiönti"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "að kasta barninu út með baðvatninu"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "an t-asal a dhíol leis an adhastar"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "buttare il bambino con l'acqua sporca"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "note": "角を貯めて牛を殺す (tsuno o tamete ushi o korosu, literally “save the horns and kill the cow”)",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "helle barnet ut med badevannet"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "kaste barnet ut med badevannet"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "slå barnet ut med badevannet"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "slå ut barnet med badevatnet"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "wylewać dziecko z kąpielą"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "wylać dziecko z kąpielą"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "tags": [
            "Portugal"
          ],
          "word": "deitar fora a criança com a água do banho"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "tags": [
            "Brazil"
          ],
          "word": "jogar fora o bebê com a água do banho"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "vméste s vodój výplesnutʹ i rebjónka",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "вме́сте с водо́й вы́плеснуть и ребёнка"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "výplesnutʹ rebjónka vméste s vodój",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "вы́плеснуть ребёнка вме́сте с водо́й"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
          "word": "kasta ut barnet med badvattnet"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "throw out the baby with the bath water"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/θɹəʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪð ðə ˈbɑːθwɔːtə(ɹ)/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/θɹoʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪθ ðə ˈbæθwɔtɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-throw the baby out with the bathwater.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/44/En-au-throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater.ogg/En-au-throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/En-au-throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "throw the baby out with the bathwater"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "German",
      "name": "uder"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From a German proverb that dates to 1512. First recorded by Thomas Murner in his satire Narrenbeschwörung. First appeared in English when Thomas Carlyle translated it and used it in an 1849 essay on slavery.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "throws the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "throwing the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threw the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "thrown the baby out with the bathwater",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "throw<,,threw,thrown> the baby out with the bathwater"
      },
      "expansion": "throw the baby out with the bathwater (third-person singular simple present throws the baby out with the bathwater, present participle throwing the baby out with the bathwater, simple past threw the baby out with the bathwater, past participle thrown the baby out with the bathwater)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms derived from German",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English undefined derivations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They cancelled the entire project because the new management didn't like the prototype, but I think they threw the baby out with the bathwater."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To discard, especially inadvertently, something valuable while in the process of removing or rejecting something unwanted."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "discard",
          "discard"
        ],
        [
          "inadvertently",
          "inadvertently"
        ],
        [
          "valuable",
          "valuable"
        ],
        [
          "process",
          "process"
        ],
        [
          "unwanted",
          "unwanted"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To discard, especially inadvertently, something valuable while in the process of removing or rejecting something unwanted."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "throw out the baby with the bath water"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/θɹəʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪð ðə ˈbɑːθwɔːtə(ɹ)/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/θɹoʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪθ ðə ˈbæθwɔtɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-throw the baby out with the bathwater.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/44/En-au-throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater.ogg/En-au-throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/En-au-throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "throw out the baby with the bathwater"
    },
    {
      "word": "throw out the baby with the bath water"
    },
    {
      "word": "throw the baby out with the bath water"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "vylít vaničku i s dítětem"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "kaste barnet ud med badevandet"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "smide barnet ud med badevandet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "het kind met het badwater weggooien"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "heittää lapsi pois pesuveden mukana"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "heittää lapsi pesuveden mukana"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "jeter le bébé avec l’eau du bain"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "לשפוך את התינוק עם המים"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "a fürdővízzel együtt a gyereket is kiönti"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "að kasta barninu út með baðvatninu"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "an t-asal a dhíol leis an adhastar"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "buttare il bambino con l'acqua sporca"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "note": "角を貯めて牛を殺す (tsuno o tamete ushi o korosu, literally “save the horns and kill the cow”)",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "helle barnet ut med badevannet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "kaste barnet ut med badevannet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "slå barnet ut med badevannet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "slå ut barnet med badevatnet"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wylewać dziecko z kąpielą"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "wylać dziecko z kąpielą"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "tags": [
        "Portugal"
      ],
      "word": "deitar fora a criança com a água do banho"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "tags": [
        "Brazil"
      ],
      "word": "jogar fora o bebê com a água do banho"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "vméste s vodój výplesnutʹ i rebjónka",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "вме́сте с водо́й вы́плеснуть и ребёнка"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "výplesnutʹ rebjónka vméste s vodój",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "вы́плеснуть ребёнка вме́сте с водо́й"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "(idiomatic) to discard something valuable",
      "word": "kasta ut barnet med badvattnet"
    }
  ],
  "word": "throw the baby out with the bathwater"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.