leave\ holding\ the\ bag

leave\ holding\ the\ bag
• leave holding the bag
• leave holding the sack
v. phr. informal
1. To cause (someone) not to have something needed; leave without anything,

In the rush for seats, Joe was left holding the bag.

2. To force (someone) to take the whole responsibility or blame for something that others should share.

When the ball hit the glass, the team scattered and left George holding the bag.

After the party, the other girls on the clean-up committee went away with their dates, and left Mary holding the bag.


Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • leave holding the bag — leave (someone) holding the bag to make someone else take all of the responsibility. If we loan the company money we want to be sure it won t fail and leave us holding the bag …   New idioms dictionary

  • leave holding the bag — leave someone else to take the blame He left me holding the bag when he ran away from the accident …   Idioms and examples

  • leave holding the bag — or[leave holding the sack] {v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To cause (someone) not to have something needed; leave without anything, * /In the rush for seats, Joe was left holding the bag./ 2. To force (someone) to take the whole responsibility or blame… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • leave holding the bag — or[leave holding the sack] {v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To cause (someone) not to have something needed; leave without anything, * /In the rush for seats, Joe was left holding the bag./ 2. To force (someone) to take the whole responsibility or blame… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • leave holding the bag — vp To be made a scapegoat. When the hand grenade exploded beneath the cow, Beulah was left holding the bag. 1860s …   Historical dictionary of American slang

  • leave holding the bag — leave someone else to deal with the consequences, leave someone else with the responsibility …   English contemporary dictionary

  • leave holding the bag — idi+inf Informal. to force the consequences upon …   From formal English to slang

  • leave\ holding\ the\ sack — • leave holding the bag • leave holding the sack v. phr. informal 1. To cause (someone) not to have something needed; leave without anything, In the rush for seats, Joe was left holding the bag. 2. To force (someone) to take the whole… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • leave someone holding the bag — leave (someone) holding the bag to make someone else take all of the responsibility. If we loan the company money we want to be sure it won t fail and leave us holding the bag …   New idioms dictionary

  • leave somebody holding the bag — leave sb holding the ˈbag idiom (NAmE, informal) to suddenly make sb responsible for sth important, such as finishing a difficult job, that is really your responsibility • You two were going to fly off and leave me holding the bag. Main entry: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

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