leave in the lurch, to
leave someone in the lurch
Fig. to leave someone waiting for or anticipating your actions. Where were you, John? You really left me in the lurch. I didn't mean to leave you in the lurch. I thought we had canceled our meeting.
See also: leave, lurch
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
leave in the lurch
Abandon or desert someone in difficult straits. For example, Jane was angry enough to quit without giving notice, leaving her boss in the lurch. This expression alludes to a 16th-century French dice game, lourche, where to incur a lurch meant to be far behind the other players. It later was used in cribbage and other games, as well as being used in its present figurative sense by about 1600.
See also: leave, lurch
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
leave in the lurch, to
To abandon or desert someone in a difficult position. This seemingly slangy modern term dates from the sixteenth century and is believed to come from a French dicing game called lourche, similar to backgammon. To incur a lurch at first meant to be left far behind, a meaning that survived in several other games, including cribbage. By the early seventeenth century, however, the expression had been transferred to any kind of abandonment, and was so used in Richard Tarton’s Jests (1611): “Ile leave him in the lurch and shift for my selves.”
See also: leave
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- leave (one) in a lurch
- leave (one) in the lurch
- leave in the lurch
- leave somebody in the lurch
- leave someone in the lurch
- love you and leave you
- I have to love you and leave you
- be on the way out
- on the way out
- on the/(one's) way out