leave someone high and dry en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) To abandon somebody; to stop providing assistance at a crucial moment.
He just walked out and left her high and dry with two kids and a mortgage.
When the Met first reached Chesham, in 1889, the townsfolk thought the growth of their town would be inexorable as a result. [...] The cry went up 'At last, we are on the main line!' And so they were - for three years, until the Met decided to carry on to Amersham, leaving Chesham high and dry on a branch.
2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 76, 77:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| leaving someone high and dry | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| leaves someone high and dry | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| left someone high and dry | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| left someone high and dry | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Relateds
leave to one's own devices · leave someone in the lurch · hang out to dry · leave someone hanging
Translations (7)
tr dımdızlak ortalıkta bırakmak (Translations) · es dejar tirado (Translations) · de hängenlassen (Translations) · el αφήνω αμανάτι (Translations) · pl zostawiać na lodzie (Translations) · az çöldə qoymaq (Translations) · pl zostawić na lodzie (Translations)