a damsel in distress

a ˌdamsel in diˈstress

(humorous) a woman who needs help from a man, often to solve a practical problem: When I got a flat tyre I had to wait for my boyfriend to come and help me, like a true damsel in distress!
Damsel is an old word for a young woman who is not married.
See also: damsel, distress
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • help a lame dog over a stile
  • helping
  • lame
  • pitch in and help
  • Can I help you?
  • Could I help you?
  • May I help you?
  • all hands to the pumps
  • help (someone) on
  • help on
References in classic literature
In the original it ran, '"How it came about that ye good Knight Sir Agravaine ye Dolorous of ye Table Round did fare forth to succour a damsel in distress and after divers journeyings and perils by flood and by field did win her for his bride and right happily did they twain live ever afterwards," by Ambrose ye monk.'
'Your majesty,' he cried, 'a damsel in distress waits without.'
And maybe I should be doing something that doesn't portray me as a damsel in distress," Sinha said.
A vibrant, sprawling adventure, The Woman in The Camphor Trunk offers a portrait of a spirited woman who refuses to be a damsel in distress -- unless it helps her to solve a case.
And again, that's one of the reasons why I was excited to play Sue specifically as a superhero because she's not a damsel in distress who then becomes a superhero.
Even when I drew the letter D on the big pokey hat the princess wore in my book of fairytales, I've never seen any merit in being a damsel in distress.
While there he finds his natural abilities are exaggerated and with his new powers, he comes to the aid of a damsel in distress. Starring Taylor Kitsch.
There's flirting from New Guy and Charlie, while the Turkish minicab drivers try to rescue a damsel in distress. And Banksy bonds with his stepson on a camping trip.
For a damsel in distress, Beth (Freya Mavor) seems to have a habit of hooking up with some hunky rogues.
NEW WORLDS C4 9pm C For a damsel in distress, Beth (Freya Mavor) seems to have a habit of hooking up with some hunky rogues.
Fancy a mission of mercy for a damsel in distress? Poor Amy Fair may face the ultimate dilemma over split loyalties as that afternoon is Caribbean day at Redcar, where she is general manager.
(In Allen's defense, this tendency is much more marked in his later films, the early ones owing much to the fashion-forward kookiness of the young Diane Keaton.) Allen and Stillman also share a similar belief in the transcendent power of popular songs from the first half of the 20th centuryDamsels in Distress ends with an endearingly inept tap number performed to George Gershwin's "Things Are Looking Up" (from the 1937 Fred Astaire vehicle A Damsel in Distress, naturally) that could have come straight out of Everyone Says I Love You.
"He didn't tell me what the part was, but when I got down to the studios in London I found out I was going to be playing a damsel in distress. The story is based on the Six Million Dollar Man and Ellie Goulding is a mad scientist who turns Tinie into the Bionic Man.
CAN I just pass on my thanks to the lads at Kwik Fit at Four Lane Ends at Newcastle for helping a damsel in distress with her tyres when all the garage tyre pressure equipment was out of order.
Using an old contact in Newcastle, he's been stealing cars, changing their number plates and selling them on, but things don't run as smoothly as he anticipates when he comes across what appears to be a damsel in distress.