miss the boat

verb

To fail to take advantage of an opportunity; to overlook or be too late to pursue an option or course of action.

“The price discount ended yesterday and I just missed the boat on a great deal.”

Similar
that ship has sailedmiss out
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Meanings

verbmiss the boat (third-person singular simple present misses the boat, present participle missing the boat, simple past and past participle missed the boat)

present singular third person misses the boat · participle present missing the boat · participle past missed the boat · past missed the boat

  1. intransitiveTo fail to take advantage of an opportunity; to overlook or be too late to pursue an option or course of action.

    The price discount ended yesterday and I just missed the boat on a great deal.

    2 more examples

    As for food delivery technology, our company missed the boat, the harbor, and the ocean.

    [Father:] How about you? Any kids? [Miller:] Yeah, no. I missed that boat.

    2015 November 23, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, “Dulcinea”, in The Expanse, season 1, episode 1

    Synonyms: that ship has sailed, miss out

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo fail to take advantage of an opportunity; to overlook or be too late to pursue an option or course of action.

Similar
that ship has sailedmiss out
Also see
miss the bus

Origin

Allusion to failing to catch a boat in time, effectively “missing” the boat. Popular since the 1920s.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 錯過機會 /错过机会
  • 錯過機會 /错过机会 (cuòguò jīhuì)fail to take advantage of an opportunity
Dutch de boot missen
  • de boot missenfail to take advantage of an opportunity
Finnish myöhästyä junasta
  • myöhästyä junastafail to take advantage of an opportunity
French manquer le coche, rater le coche
  • manquer le cochefail to take advantage of an opportunity
  • rater le cochefail to take advantage of an opportunity
  • manquer le bateaufail to take advantage of an opportunity
Icelandic verða af tækifæri
  • verða af tækifærifail to take advantage of an opportunity
Italian perdere il treno
  • perdere il trenofail to take advantage of an opportunity
Polish przegapiać okazję, przegapić okazję
  • przegapiać okazjęfail to take advantage of an opportunity
  • przegapić okazjęfail to take advantage of an opportunity
Romanian pierde trenul
  • pierde trenulfail to take advantage of an opportunity
Spanish perder el tren
  • perder el trenfail to take advantage of an opportunity
Turkish fırsatı kaçırmak
  • fırsatı kaçırmakfail to take advantage of an opportunity
Cite this entry
APA

miss the boat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/miss%20the%20boat

MLA

“miss the boat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/miss%20the%20boat. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “miss the boat,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/miss%20the%20boat.

Source: miss the boat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.