high and dry

adjective

1
: being out of reach of the current or tide or out of the water
2
: being in a helpless or abandoned position

Examples of high and dry in a Sentence

the inadequate supplies of vaccine left many people high and dry when the flu season arrived
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
How much longer will the Navy be left high and dry? Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Feb. 2025 But unions pushed back, warning employees that there was no precedent for such a move and that people who accepted it could be left high and dry. Cheyenne Haslett, ABC News, 20 Feb. 2025 The duo made the remarks in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday when asked about claims from President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk that the astronauts were left high and dry by the prior administration. Jackie Wattles, CNN, 13 Feb. 2025 The Silicon Valley giant — along with Google’s YouTube and other social media apps — may stand to benefit if a law banning TikTok from the United States takes effect on Sunday, leaving TikTok’s 170 million monthly U.S. users high and dry. Mike Isaac, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for high and dry

Word History

First Known Use

1727, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of high and dry was in 1727

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“High and dry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/high%20and%20dry. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!