IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishleave someone high and dry
Meaning: Abandoned or stranded; helpless.
Example: “The contractor took the deposit and left us high and dry.”
Origin: Nautical: a ship left "high and dry" was stranded on the shore or a sandbank when the tide went out, unable to move. The figurative sense of abandoning someone helpless is recorded from the 19th century.
More English idioms
- the long and short of it The outcome; the point.
- look like death warmed over To look/feel ill or exhausted.
- look sharp To look neat and stylish; also, to hurry or be alert.
- lose one's cool To become angry.
- lose one's temper To become suddenly angry. To hold one's temper means to remain calm when irritated.
- low man on the totem pole The person of lowest rank.
Explore another collection: Compliments & Insults
Compliments and insults from around the world, from the sweet to the savage.
- Che rompiscatole What an insufferable pest — someone who endlessly pesters and never lets you be.
- Testa quadrata A rigid, inflexible blockhead who refuses to see beyond their fixed ideas.
- È un mammone An overgrown man who can't make a decision without his mother — the Italian archetype of…
Keep exploring