cuts one's losses
Abandons failing venture
To cut one's losses is to abandon a failing endeavor before it gets worse—accepting a small loss now rather than risking a larger one later.
The phrase comes from gambling and trading, where knowing when to walk away matters as much as knowing when to bet: The project was bleeding money, so we cut our losses and shut it down.
- sunk costUnrecoverable past outlay
- contingency planPrepared alternative course
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
- acceptanceConsent to receive
- insuranceContractual risk coverage
liquidation · damage control · adaptability · mitigation · optimization · trade-offs · safety net · detachment · opportunity cost · bad bet · budgeting · pivoting · folding · quit while ahead · hedging · foresight · diversification · portfolio management
cuts one's lossesdoubles down
Increases commitment despite risk
throws good money after bad · sunk cost fallacy · raises the stakes · ups the ante
cuts, cutting, cutter, cutters, ones, oneself, loss, losses, lose