C1idiominformalsuccessIELTS-friendly
miss the boat
USUK
to lose a chance because you did not act quickly enough
Informal; used about chances such as jobs, investments and deals.
In context
House prices doubled in five years, and I feel I've missed the boat.
Apply for the scholarship this week, or you might miss the boat.
More idioms about success
- a blessing in disguisesomething that seems bad at first but later brings a good result
- a long shotan attempt or guess that has very little chance of success
- a Pyrrhic victorya win that costs so much that it is hardly worth winning
- against all oddsalthough success seemed very unlikely
- back to square oneback at the start, because an earlier attempt has failed