to leave the ball in someone's court
- idiom
:
dejar la decisión en manos de alguien
- Once I explained the project, I left the ball in my manager's court to make the final decision.
Examples
-
He gave her all the information she needed but left the ball in her court regarding the next steps.
-
I thought of saying, but instead I just "good-naturedly" laughed and left the ball in Tom's court.
Fiction book (1994) -
After sharing my idea, I decided to leave the ball in her court to see how she would respond.
Synonyms
45
3.7
To give a job and authority to someone so they do it for you
5
5.2
It is now someone's turn to act or decide
4
6.7
Send a matter or problem to another person to decide
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
leave + the + ball + in + someone's + court
The phrase uses a sports metaphor (ball/court) so a learner who knows the words may infer it relates to turns or responsibility, but the specific sense 'make someone else responsible for deciding or acting' requires mapping that metaphor to social responsibility. Because this mapping is metaphorical and depends on cultural/pragmatic knowledge rather than straightforward composition, it is only partially predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Leave the ball in someone's court comes from games like tennis, where if the ball is on a player's court, it is their turn to hit it. So, the phrase means 'to make someone else responsible for deciding or acting'.