three strikes and (one's) out

three strikes and (one's) out

Three mistakes, transgressions, or infractions will lead someone to failing or being dismissed. He's got two strikes against him for coming into work late; three strikes and he's out. The school takes truancy very seriously: three strikes and you're out.
See also: and, out, strike, three
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Three strikes and you are out.

Fig. Three chances and you are finished. (From baseball.) One more arrest for speeding and you lose your license. You know, three strikes and you're out.
See also: and, out, strike, three
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

three strikes and you're out

INFORMAL
If a country or an organization has a three strikes and you're out policy or law, people who commit three offences are punished very severely, even if the separate offences are not very serious. Note: In baseball, a `strike' is a legal pitch or ball which the batter fails to hit. The batter is out after three strikes. California has recently introduced a law known as three strikes and you're out, meaning that after a third conviction the authorities lock you up and throw away the key. A Merseyside burglar has become one of the first in the country to be jailed under the new `three strikes and you're out' law.
See also: and, out, strike, three
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • Three strikes and you are out
  • three strikes and you're out
  • if you don't make mistakes, you don't make anything
  • get right with (someone)
  • divine
  • to err is human
  • to err is human (to forgive is divine)
  • to err is human, to forgive divine
  • place the blame on
  • place the blame on (someone or something)