idiom · neutral

throw good money after bad

UK/θrəʊ ɡʊd ˈmʌni ˌɑːftə ˈbæd/US/θroʊ ɡʊd ˈmʌni ˌæftər ˈbæd/throw GOOD MONEy after BAD

speakingtask2

To continue spending money on something that is already a failure, thus wasting more money

Examples

The company refused to throw good money after bad and closed the unprofitable branch.

Investing more in that failing product would be throwing good money after bad.

Rather than throw good money after bad, they cut their losses early.

Band 8 sentence

Faced with mounting losses and no viable turnaround plan, the investors decided not to throw good money after bad.

Collocations

  • refuse to throw good money after bad
  • stop throwing good money after bad

Word family

threw good money after bad verb phrase (past)throwing good money after bad verb phrase (continuous)

Common mistakes

They throwed good money after bad.They threw good money after bad.

They throw money after they lost the business.They threw good money after bad.

Say it for a higher band

5waste more money6keep investing in a lost cause7+throw good money after bad

Synonyms

cut your losses

Easily confused

pour money down the drain

She kept funding the failing project and felt like pouring money down the drain.

Related words

Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.

In Money

Learn it with its set