Word.ws English Dictionary

that train has left the station

that train has left the station phrase: that opportunity has already passed; that cannot be undone.

Phrase

that train has left the station

  1. That opportunity has already passed; that cannot be undone.
    • The expression "You've missed the boat" was replaced by "That train has left the station" and will one day be replaced by "That space shuttle has already started the countdown".1981 March 22, William Safire, “On Language: Do you speak ASPIC?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 24 May 2015, retrieved 17 Sep 2017
    • Mr. Chairman, we can't prohibit borrowing by the federal government. That train has already left the station. We're too deep in debt not to borrow.1994, Proposed Constitutional Amendments to Balance the Federal Budget: Floor action and committee hearings for the 101st Congress: A legislative history, Volume 4, page 533

Examples of that train has left the station in a sentence

  • “That train has left the station and to stand in its way is folly.”2016 November 16, Adam Withnall, “Donald Trump must not make any 'irrevocable choices' over climate change, warns John Kerry”, in The...
  • Kevin Sabet […] said he doesn’t think Canada should legalize pot at all but if that train has left the station, Canada at the very least needs to slow it down.2017 September 12, Mia Rabson, “Police ask feds to postpone date for legal pot”, in The Star, Canada, archived from the original on 26 Mar...

Synonyms of that train has left the station

Forms of that train has left the station

alternative formthat train has already left the station

Questions about that train has left the station

What does that train has left the station mean?
That train has left the station means that opportunity has already passed; that cannot be undone.
How do you use that train has left the station in a sentence?
“That train has left the station and to stand in its way is folly.”
What part of speech is that train has left the station?
That train has left the station is a phrase.

Words near that train has left the station in the dictionary

  1. that tears it
  2. that there
  3. that time of the month
  4. that tired feeling
  5. that train has already left the station
  6. that train has left the station
  7. that was a joke, Joyce
  8. that was it
  9. that was not the wind
  10. that was that
  11. that was then and this is now

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: that train has left the station (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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