out on a limb

1. In a difficult, awkward, or vulnerable position, as in I lodged a complaint about low salaries, but the people who had supported me left me out on a limb. This expression alludes to an animal climbing out on the limb of a tree and then being afraid or unable to retreat. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

I’ll go out on a limb and say whatever those young Saudis at the WWE were thinking, it wasn’t about joining ISIS.

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“I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we got more laughs than all those films combined.”

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“Having been a real … wilderness for a long time, and feeling very out on a limb … to be considered part of a movement, at least at first, was exciting,” he recalls.

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Better to have politicians and experts who study the pressing issues of the day and go out on a limb rather than shrug their shoulders.

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Coaches have had to put themselves out on a limb.

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