take an early bath

take an early bath

1. To be sent to the sidelines or the locker room in a game by one's coach. Primarily heard in UK. The keeper had already allowed three goals before he took an early bath in the first half of the game.

2. To fail or experience an insurmountable setback before or very early on in a competition. Primarily heard in UK. The rising political star has taken an early bath ahead of the elections after making several racist and misogynistic claims to a local newspaper. I ended up taking an early bath when my carburetor blew out shortly after the race began.

See also: an, bath, early, take

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

take an early bath

1 be sent off in a game of football or other sport. 2 fail early on in a race or contest. informal

The allusion is to the bath or shower taken by players at the end of a match.

2 1992 Bowlers' World Defending champion Dave Phillips took an early bath losing all his three opening qualifying games.

See also: an, bath, early, take

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017