miss the boat
Saymis thuh BOHTUS/ˌmɪs ðə ˈboʊt/UK/ˌmɪs ðə ˈbəʊt/
Formsmisses the boat, missing the boat, missed the boat
- 1To lose a chance because you waited too long or did not notice it.
Like getting to the station after your train has already left.
If you don't sign up today, you will miss the boat on the cheap tickets.
He missed the boat when he waited too long to ask her to the dance.
Note
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with miss the boat, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.
Origin
It comes from the idea of arriving too late to catch a boat and so "missing" it. It has been popular since the 1920s.