like a lamb to the slaughter

Idioms  

1. Also, as lambs to the slaughter. Innocently and helplessly, without realizing the danger. For example, She agreed to appeal to the board, little knowing she would go like a lamb to the slaughter. This expression appears in several biblical books (Isaiah, Jeremiah), and the simile itself was used by Chaucer.

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Example Sentences

So she set out to reveal the magnetic yet sheltered young woman who later reportedly felt "like a lamb to the slaughter" when she entered her artfully arranged marriage.

From Salon • Sep. 6, 2023

"I have no desire to return like a lamb to the slaughter," the artist told the BBC by phone.

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2017

He was like a lamb to the slaughter.

From Golf Digest • Oct. 16, 2013

The latter told Dumas that he had no alternative but to fight, though he went like a lamb to the slaughter, and had no knowledge of the code nor any skill with weapons.

From Dumas' Paris by Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)

"You will not try to help yourself, but are going willingly, like a lamb to the slaughter, as it were."

From Jolly Sally Pendleton Or, the Wife Who Was Not a Wife by Libbey, Laura Jean