twist in the wind

Idioms  

1. Be abandoned to a bad situation, especially be left to incur blame, as in The governor denied knowing it was illegal and left his aide to twist in the wind. It is also put as leave twisting in the wind, meaning “abandon or strand in a difficult situation,” as in Sensing a public relations disaster, the President left the Vice-President twisting in the wind. This expression, at first applied to a President's nominees who faced opposition and were abandoned by the President, alludes to the corpse of a hanged man left dangling and twisting in the open air. [Slang; early 1970s] Also see out on a limb.

---

Example Sentences

But because the authorities did not resolve her case before the Olympics began, her reputation has been left to twist in the wind.

From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2022

A woman pushing a stroller stopped to watch the garments twist in the wind, staring at the smallest dress in the collection, which would fit a little girl.

From The Guardian • Mar. 7, 2019

Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008—left to twist in the wind by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 9, 2018

He disagreed that he had left Wakamatsu to twist in the wind after the Chone Figgins incident.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2010

He put wood on the fire and fanned it to life and they lay in their blankets watching the flames twist in the wind and then they slept.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy