to leave someone hanging
45
6.6
- phrasal verb
- /liːv ˈsʌmˌwʌn ˈhæŋɪŋ/
- Informal
:
dejar colgado
- David, you can't leave us hanging like this.
- just leave me hanging
- leave me hanging here
- going to leave you hanging
Examples
-
Sir, you can't just leave me hanging like this.
Fiction book (1999) -
You gonna leave me hanging like this?
-
- What, are you gonna leave me hanging?
-
I was listening and you left me hanging.
-
I help you out, you just leave me hanging?
-
The point is, you left us hanging.
-
Would you guys just, uh, leave me hanging out there to get picked off?
-
I hope the show doesn't leave us hanging for too long.
Blog text (26) -
Now, don't leave me hanging.
Fiction book (2000) -
Please don't just tell me you need to leave; I can't stand when you leave me hanging without an explanation.
Synonyms
To promise help again and again and then take it away at the last moment
Antonyms
How Supported
753
1.4
∞
1.0
210
2.9
- Informal
45
6.6
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'leave' (to abandon) and 'hanging' (suspended/left in limbo) give a clear metaphorical image of someone being left waiting or abandoned, so a learner could partly infer the idea of being left without a response. However, the exact pragmatic sense—failing to provide help or information at a crucial moment—is a metaphorical extension and not fully predictable from the literal meanings, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Leave someone hanging The idiom leave someone hanging comes from the image of a person left hanging in the air because others leave them there without help. So it means 'to fail to give someone the help or information they need, especially at an important moment'.