broken reed

Idioms  

1. A weak or unreliable support, as in I'd counted on her to help, but she turned out to be a broken reed. The idea behind this idiom, first recorded about 1593, was already present in a mid-15th-century translation of a Latin tract, “Trust not nor lean not upon a windy reed.”

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Example Sentences

The Young Marshal was a broken reed, but on that reed the Nationalists leaned heavily because of Peiping.

From Time Magazine Archive

Rebel Miguel Mariano Gomez is even more of a broken reed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The committee also lifted its voice for excise taxes, arguing that in relying almost entirely on income and corporation taxes, the U.S. is relying on a broken reed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The loop at the end had a single broken reed still attached.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

They will, however, find it a broken reed when called upon to pass through the dark valley.

From The Monctons A Novel: Volume 2 (of 2) by Moodie, Susanna