go away empty-handed
Meaning: To get nothing at all.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The last three bakeries were shut, so we went away empty-handed.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Hands with nothing in them, as after a failed hunt or a refused request. "Empty-handed" is found in English from the 17th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Portuguese: Ficar a ver navios — literally: To be left watching ships
- Russian: Остаться с носом (Ostat'sya s nosom) — literally: To be left with the nose
- Italian: a bocca asciutta — literally: with dry mouth
More idioms — Body & Senses
- work one's fingers to the bone — To work extremely hard.
- watch one's back — To stay alert to hidden threats.
- set someone's heart racing — To excite or alarm someone.
- forget one's own head — To be extremely forgetful.
- take to one's heels — To run away.
- drag one's feet — To delay deliberately.
More English idioms
- on the ropes — Close to defeat or collapse.
- hit rock bottom — To reach the lowest possible point.
- move with the times — To keep up with change instead of clinging to old ways.
- beat the drum for something — To promote something loudly and publicly.
- any old how — Carelessly, with no attention to doing it properly.
- where the sun doesn't shine — Somewhere hidden; also a rude way of naming the body.
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