High and Dry: Definition, Useful Examples & Alternative Words in English

High and Dry! Learn the definition with many useful example sentences of the expression “High and Dry” as well as several alternative forms to use instead of this phrase with ESL infographic.

Learn more about common idiom in English.

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High and Dry Meaning

What Does High and Dry Mean?

The common English phrase “leave someone high and dry” means to put someone in a difficult or unpleasant situation without any help and they can not escape from. Take an example sentence “Schools with better reputations will be flooded with applications while poorer schools will be left high and dry.”

This term originally referred to ships that were beached. The word ‘dry’ implies that, not only were they out of the water, but had been for some time and could be expected to remain so.

Example Sentences

We are left behind, high and dry.
He left her high and dry in a strange country without any money.
The depression left his business high and dry.
Their yacht was left high and dry on a sandbank.
The once-thriving port of Rye was left high and dry as sea levels retreated.
The pirates left us high and dry!
Some crews actually rope cell phones down to high and dry rock climbers to get information.
He took all the money and left me high and dry.
When the tide went out , the boat was high and dry.
They pulled out of the deal at the last minute leaving us high and dry.
The cruel man took all the money and left his own grandmother high and dry.
Schools with better reputations will be flooded with applications while poorer schools will be left high and dry.