throw the baby out with the bathwater
Discard everything indiscriminately
To throw the baby out with the bathwater is to discard something valuable while eliminating something unwanted.
The image is of emptying a tub so carelessly that the infant goes out with the dirty water.
The phrase typically warns against overreaction: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater—the policy has problems, but the core idea is sound.
- eliminateRemove completely
- discardDeliberately throw out
- all or nothingExtreme without compromise
- extremeFurthest from moderate
- overreactionDisproportionate emotional response
knee-jerk reaction · haphazardly · Pyrrhic victory · loss · waste · collateral damage · unintended consequences · prudence · overcorrection · intemperate · nuclear option · trade-offs · impetuousness · indiscriminate · cost-benefit analysis · discernment · better safe than sorry · reject
throw the baby out with the bathwaterseparate the wheat from the chaff
Extract what matters
throw the baby out with the bathwatersurgical precision
Extreme exactness in execution
throw the baby out with the bathwaterfine-tuning
Small precise optimization adjustments