verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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1
verb
Meaning 1
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").
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
Examples
They cancelled the entire project because the new management didn't like the prototype, but I think they threw the baby out with the bathwater.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Calque of German das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten, a proverb first recorded by Thomas Murner in his satire Narrenbeschwörung (1512). First appeared in English when Thomas Carlyle translated it in an essay on slavery (1849).
Across languages
Translations
24 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Czech:
vylít vaničku i s dítětem
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Danish:
kaste barnet ud med badevandet
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Danish:
smide barnet ud med badevandet
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Dutch:
het kind met het badwater weggooien
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Finnish:
heittää lapsi pois pesuveden mukana
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Finnish:
heittää lapsi pesuveden mukana
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
French:
jeter le bébé avec l'eau du bain
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
German:
das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Hebrew:
שפך את התינוק עם המים
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Hungarian:
a fürdővízzel együtt a gyereket is kiönti
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Icelandic:
að kasta barninu út með baðvatninu
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Irish:
an t-asal a dhíol leis an adhastar
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Italian:
buttare il bambino con l'acqua sporca
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Norwegian Bokmål:
helle barnet ut med badevannet
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Norwegian Bokmål:
kaste barnet ut med badevannet
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Norwegian Bokmål:
slå barnet ut med badevannet
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Norwegian Nynorsk:
slå ut barnet med badevatnet
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Polish:
wylewać dziecko z kąpielą
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Polish:
wylać dziecko z kąpielą
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Portuguese:
deitar fora a criança com a água do banho
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Portuguese:
jogar fora o bebê com a água do banho
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Russian:
вме́сте с водо́й вы́плеснуть и ребёнка
(vméste s vodój výplesnutʹ i rebjónka)
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Russian:
вы́плеснуть ребёнка вме́сте с водо́й
(výplesnutʹ rebjónka vméste s vodój)
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted
Swedish:
kasta ut barnet med badvattnet
— (idiomatic) to discard the valuable along with the unwanted