have nothing to lose

have nothing to lose (third-person singular simple present has nothing to lose, present participle having nothing to lose, simple past and past participle had nothing to lose)

1. To be in a situation that could improve by doing something and that will not be any worse if it fails.

   to have nothing to lose and everything to gain

   you have nothing to lose but your chains

   They say that nothing is more dangerous than a man who has nothing to lose.

   • 1965, Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”:

     When ya ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose

   • 1981 January 23, Billy Idol, Tony James, “Dancing with Myself”, in Kiss Me Deadly, performed by Generation X:

     When there’s nothing to lose and nothing to prove,
     I’ll be dancing with myself; oh, oh, o-oh.

   • 2008, Peter Michael Higgins, Number Story: From Counting to Cryptography, page 141:

     He is noted for coming up with his 'wager', in which he argued that he was prepared to believe in God on the grounds that he had nothing to lose if he was wrong, and everything to gain should he be right.

• “have nothing to lose”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.