hang out to dry
English
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
hang out to dry (third-person singular simple present hangs out to dry, present participle hanging out to dry, simple past and past participle hung out to dry)
- (transitive, idiomatic) To abandon someone who is in need or in danger, especially a colleague or one dependent.
- Synonym: leave someone hanging
- 2008 March 7, Joe Fiorito, “Our home-care system hangs families out to dry”, in Toronto Star, retrieved 23 August 2008:
- Without supplemental health insurance, we would have been hung out to dry.
- 2011 January 25, Clare McNeil, “Don't hang young people out to dry”, in The Guardian, ISSN 0261-3077:
- It's hard to avoid the conclusion that young people are being hung out to dry.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hang, out, dry.
Usage notes
- Often carries an element of betrayal of someone who might have expected protection or assistance.
Translations
abandon someone in need
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See also
- twist in the wind
- hang out