be left holding the baby
(US be left holding the bag)Definition
› to suddenly have to deal with a difficult situation because others have decided that they do not want the responsibility: The other investors pulled out of the project and we were left holding the baby.Coping and not copingDealing with things or peopleTolerating and enduring
(Definition of be left holding the baby from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse related topics
You are looking at an entry to do with Coping and not coping, but you might be interested in these topics from the Doing and achieving topic area:
- Abstaining and refraining
- Acting and acts
- Avoiding action
- Becoming better
- Cancelling and interrupting
- Competing and contending (non-sporting)
- Delaying and wasting time
- Describing the leading position
- Efficient and effective
- Expressions telling people to hurry up
- Failing and doing badly
- Failures
- Getting involved for one's own benefit or against others' will
- Hesitating
- Higher and lower points of achievement
- Hurrying and doing things quickly
- Making progress and advancing
- Making things better
- Performing a function
- Potential
- Reacting and responding
- Repeating an action
- Succeeding, achieving and fulfilling
- Success and achievements
- Successful (things or people)
- Surpassing in quality or number
- Taking part and getting involved
- Trying and making an effort
- Unsuccessful (people and things)
- Waiting
- Ways of achieving things
Browse the Dictionary
-
be laid up idiom
-
be laughed out of court idiom
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be laughing all the way to the bank idiom
-
be laughing idiom
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be laughing on the other side of your face idiom
- be left holding the baby idiom
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be like a bear with a sore head idiom
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be like a deer/rabbit caught in the headlights idiom
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be like a fish out of water idiom
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be like a red rag to a bull idiom
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be like chalk and cheese idiom
Browse the Thesaurus
SMART Thesaurus
Synonyms and related words:
- balancing act noun
- bear up phrasal verb
- bite off more than you can chew idiom
- buckle verb (BE DEFEATED)
- can't cut it idiom
- fare verb
- grasp the nettle idiom
- if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen idiom
- juggle verb (MANAGE)
- keep body and soul together idiom
- keep/hold your end up idiom
- make ends meet idiom
- manage verb (SUCCEED)
- meltdown noun (FAILURE)
- pull (sb) through (sth) phrasal verb
- ride (out) the storm idiom
- rise above sth phrasal verb
- roll with the punches idiom
- scrape by/along phrasal verb
- scrape verb (SUCCEED)
Topic:
Coping and not coping
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throw caution to the wind/winds
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