to throw to the wolves
8
8.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
dejar a alguien en la estacada
- So, you're just stringing me along and then you're just gonna throw me to the wolves, is that it?
- gonna throw you to the wolves
- So they threw him to the wolves
- just threw them to the wolves
I mean, how are we going to, how are we going to protect members of our young community who've been thrown to the wolves but by brands like Laura's Boutique?
- I mean, how are we going to, how are we going to protect members of our young community who've been thrown to the wolves but by brands like Laura's Boutique?
- And he knows what he can sometimes say he day she doesn't matter, but not because he wanted to just throw you to the wolves.
Examples
-
We will throw you to the wolves, and if you survive, I've got your back.
Blog text (13) -
Besides, I’m not the kind of guy to throw an old buddy to the wolves, even if the wolves happen to be our friends.
-
But anyone looking at what they wrote would throw me to the wolves.
Blog text (33) -
Ready to be thrown to the wolves?
-
I'm gonna have to throw you to the wolves.
-
I'd happily throw you to the wolves.
Blog text (3) -
Well, we can't just throw you to the wolves like that.
-
They were gonna throw him to the wolves.
-
Anyone who doesn't understand the system gets thrown to the wolves.
Blog text (15) -
The manager decided to throw the new employee to the wolves during the meeting, leaving him to fend for himself against tough questions.
Synonyms
773
3.1
Leave someone or something behind permanently and without care
To suddenly stop helping someone, leaving them in a difficult situation
Antonyms
How Abandoned
- Informal
8
8.1
773
3.1
210
2.9
187
3.2
753
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
throw + to + the + wolf
The literal image of 'throwing' someone 'to the wolves' readily evokes abandoning a person to predators, so a learner who knows 'throw' and 'wolf' can infer being left in a dangerous or hostile situation. However, the idiomatic nuance of betrayal or sacrificing someone (often for one’s own benefit) is a metaphorical extension that is not fully predictable from the parts and depends on cultural familiarity.
Etymology
Throw to the wolves comes from a harsh picture: imagine someone being thrown to a pack of wolves and left to be attacked. So, it now means 'to leave someone in a dangerous situation without help', often to save yourself.