out on a limb

Idioms  

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]

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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.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

Coaches have had to put themselves out on a limb.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2025

“I’m not going out on a limb to say they had Black friends in their homes,” she says.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024

Share your thoughts about the match or go out on a limb and give us a prediction.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2024

Inside, however, I felt a thrumming nervousness, that sense of inching perpetually farther out on a limb.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama