Meaning & use
cutting losses
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiom
Stopping an activity or deal that is already failing, so you avoid losing even more.
Grammar: Used as a noun-like phrase after verbs such as consider, start, recommend; the full idiom is 'cut your losses'.
Patterns
- consider cutting losses
- start cutting losses
- be worth cutting losses
After six months without a single sale, the owners began cutting losses and closed the shop.
The fund was down 40%, so the managers talked about cutting losses before the year ended.
Cutting losses early is painful, but it usually costs less than waiting.
phraseidiomfigurative
Ending a personal situation, such as a relationship or a project, that is clearly not working.
Grammar: Same phrase, used about private life rather than money; still follows verbs like decide or think about.
Patterns
- decide to cut your losses
- think about cutting losses
He spent two years on a novel nobody wanted, then decided to cut his losses.
They kept arguing about the same things, so she thought about cutting her losses and leaving.
Common combinations
- cut your losses
- Sometimes the wisest move is simply to cut your losses.
- cut losses early
- Investors who cut losses early often recover faster.
- before cutting losses
- Check the numbers carefully before cutting losses.
- cut your losses and move on
- They cut their losses and moved on to a new product.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bail out
- Informal; it stresses escaping a bad situation quickly, while 'cutting losses' stresses limiting the damage.
- pull the plug on something
- More dramatic and informal; it means stopping something completely, not just limiting losses.
Opposites
Word family
- cut your losses phrase
- The base idiom, used with a possessive: cut my/your/our losses.
- loss noun
- Money or things you no longer have; the noun behind the idiom.
- loss-making adjective
- Describing a business that is losing money.
Commonly confused: cutting losses or cutting corners?
cutting losses vs cutting corners
This means doing something too quickly or cheaply to save effort, not stopping a failing activity.
Practice
The project has lost money for two years. The board has finally decided to ______.
Choose one answer.
'Cut their losses' means stop a failing activity to avoid more loss, which fits the board's decision. 'Cut corners' means save effort by doing something badly, and 'cut a deal' means make an agreement — neither fits the loss of money.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cutting losses”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.