throw the baby out with the bath water


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Related to throw the baby out with the bath water: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, Idioms

throw the baby out with the bath

To discard something valuable or important while disposing of something considered worthless, especially an outdated idea or form of behavior. The phrase is often used in the negative as a warning against such thoughtless behavior. Why are we scrapping the entire project? Come on, don't throw the baby out with the bath. The main reforms of the movement were desperately needed, but I'm afraid we threw the baby out with the bath in many cases.
See also: baby, bath, out, throw

throw the baby out with the bathwater

To discard something valuable or important while disposing of something considered worthless, especially an outdated idea or form of behavior. The phrase is often used in the negative as a warning against such thoughtless behavior. Why are we scrapping the entire project? Come on, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The main reforms of the movement were desperately needed, but I'm afraid we threw the baby out with the bathwater in many cases.
See also: baby, bathwater, out, throw
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

throw the baby out with the bath water

If someone throws the baby out with the bath water, they reject an idea completely, even though some parts of it are good. Even if we don't necessarily like the whole scheme, we're not going to throw the baby out with the bath water. In rejecting traditional values, they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
See also: baby, bath, out, throw, water
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

throw the baby out with the bath water

Slang
To discard something valuable along with something not desired, usually unintentionally.
See also: baby, bath, out, throw, water
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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