to lose an opportunity
Examples:
- Don’t miss the boat. You should buy that stock now.
- If you are not paying attention to what the customer is saying, you’ll miss the boat.
- They really missed the boat by delaying the rollout of their wireless features.
- If you don't register before the deadline, you'll miss the boat entirely.
Origin: In the old days people travel by ship and the departures were infrequent. So if you missed the boat you might have lost an opportunity to travel.
Synonyms: miss the bus, miss the opportunity, be too late