throw out the baby with the bathwater

A form of throw the baby out with the bathwater — To discard, inadvertently or through overzealousness, something valuable or essential ("the baby") in the process of removing or rejecting something unwanted or undesirable ("the bathwater").

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Meanings

verbthrow out the baby with the bathwater (third-person singular simple present throws out the baby with the bathwater, present participle throwing out the baby with the bathwater, simple past threw out the baby with the bathwater, past participle thrown out the baby with the bathwater)

present singular third person throws out the baby with the bathwater · participle present throwing out the baby with the bathwater · past threw out the baby with the bathwater · participle past thrown out the baby with the bathwater

  1. alternativeAlternative form of throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Cite this entry
APA

throw out the baby with the bathwater. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throw%20out%20the%20baby%20with%20the%20bathwater

MLA

“throw out the baby with the bathwater.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throw%20out%20the%20baby%20with%20the%20bathwater. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “throw out the baby with the bathwater,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throw%20out%20the%20baby%20with%20the%20bathwater.

Source: throw out the baby with the bathwater on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.