take a bath

take a bath (third-person singular simple present takes a bath, present participle taking a bath, simple past took a bath, past participle taken a bath)

1. To bathe.

   She told the children to take a bath and wash off the mud and grime.

   • 2009, Peter Sander, Jennifer Sander, 573 Ways to Save Money: Save the Cost of This Book Many Times Over in Less than a Day!, page 211,

     Take a bath with fragrant herbs.

2. (idiomatic) To lose a large amount of money in an investment.

   Shareholders took a bath when the company went bankrupt.

   • 1983 December, ‘Look before you leap into a commodity pool’, in Kiplinger's Personal Finance, page 74,

     In the high-risk world of futures contracts, pooling the risks could be just another way to take a bath.

   • 2009, John Burley, Money Secrets of the Rich: Learn the 7 Secrets to Financial Freedom‎, page 163:

     The lenders took a bath because they had to honor fixed rate loans of 5 to 10% while borrowing money at 15 to 20% to fund them.

   • 2009, William J. O'Neil, How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad‎, page 235:

     The fastest way to take a bath in the stock market is to try to prove that you are right and the market is wrong.

• have a bath