1.
Fail to take advantage of an opportunity, as in Jean missed the boat on that club membership. This expression, which alludes to not being in time to catch a boat, has been applied more widely since the 1920s.
2.
Fail to understand something, as in I'm afraid our legislator missed the boat on that amendment to the bill. [Mid-1900s] Also see
miss the point.
miss the boat
| Idioms: miss the boat |
Learn More
 | The Roach Approach: Don't Miss the Boat! (2004 Children's/Family Film) |
| Miki Sings Billie (1993 Album by Miki Howard) |
| miss |
Help us answer these
 | Why did my Grand Marquis start missing while towing my boat? |
| Is The Miss Tilly the shrimp boat story real? |
| The origin or place were miss the boat was first created? |
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Copyrights:
 |
 | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
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- Miki Sings Billie (1993 Album by Miki Howard)
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