Dictionary

cut one's losses en · VERB

Meanings

1. To discontinue something to put a stop to continued losses after facing that it is unlikely it will ever bear fruit.
   • Sometimes when things are not going as you expected, it's better to cut your losses and move on than to hang on and deal with the stress, financial drain, emotional drag, and loss of time. 2017, Meera Lester, Rituals for Life: Find Meaning in Your Everyday Moments, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 174:
   • I mentioned already in this chapter that you need to cut your losses before they drag you down. No matter how much it hurts and no matter how much you believe that you are right, you need to close out a losing position and move on. 2011, Ann C. Logue, Day Trading For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 43:
   • One of life's most useful skills is knowing when to cut your losses. The $11.8bn digital mood-board platform Pinterest, down nearly 80 per cent since its 2021 peak, may be approaching that moment. 2026 March 14, “Pinterest might want to put a potential sale on its mood board”, in FT Weekend (Lex section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20:
   • But our culture has reinforced the belief that a good marriage just happens, and if it doesn't, you should simply cut your losses and move on to the next partner. After all, that's what we see in the movies. 2007, Catherine Weber, A Woman's Guide to Overcoming Depression, Baker Books, →ISBN, page 47:

Forms

Coordinates

throw good money after bad

Relateds

sunk cost

Translations (13)

fi rajata tappio (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · es reducir las pérdidas (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · de die Verluste begrenzen (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · fr arrêter les frais (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · ru зафикси́ровать убы́тки (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · es recortar las perdiciones (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · de einen harten Schnitt machen (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · es cortar por lo sano (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · pl zmniejszać straty (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · cmn 減少損失 /减少损失 (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · cmn 止損 /止损 (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · pl zmniejszyć straty (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit) · ru фикси́ровать убы́тки (discontinue an effort that seems unlikely to ever bear fruit)