come out the little end of the horn

come out the little end of the horn

To suffer significant losses in the process of doing something. When we went to sell our investment property, we came out the little end of the horn because house prices in that neighborhood had tumbled.

See also: come, end, horn, little, of, out

come out (of) the little end of the horn

Rur. to lose a great deal; to end with less than one started with. (See also end up with the short end of the stick.) After the stock market crash, plenty of folks came out the little end of the horn.

See also: come, end, horn, little, of, out