Meanings
- idiomaticinformalThe effort put into something is justified by the outcome.
So our purpose, work, and efforts should result in “juice” worth the “squeeze” of the life we choose.
2018, John Mason, Seize Today: How Asking the Right Questions Will Change Your Life3 more examples
Another part of the problem may be that I have talked to one of these folks that were looking for grants, and he told me, Ken, the juice isn't worth the squeeze from trying to get the money from the Feds and the complications that go into this.
2008, United States. Congress, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations for 2010I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze on this one ... maybe I'll just take the hit on the exam and learn it later.
2010, Jeff Wiese, Teaching in the Hospital, page 5We need to ask ourselves whether the juice is worth the squeeze. Let's say we have a perfect fraud model that can completely identify all the fraud occurring in a portfolio. However, if the model takes so long to run in production that it crashes the production system, that model is far from desirable.
2014, Revathi Subramanian, Bank Fraud: Using Technology to Combat Losses, page 114Antonyms: the game is not worth the candle
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseThe effort put into something is justified by the outcome.
Cite this entry
the juice is worth the squeeze. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20juice%20is%20worth%20the%20squeeze
“the juice is worth the squeeze.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20juice%20is%20worth%20the%20squeeze. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “the juice is worth the squeeze,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20juice%20is%20worth%20the%20squeeze.
Source: the juice is worth the squeeze on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.