thrown to the lions

Cultural  

1. Figuratively, to be thrown to the lions is to be placed in a difficult situation for which one is completely unprepared: “To put that new teacher in front of those unruly students is to throw her to the lions.” During the Roman persecutions, Christians (see also Christian) were thrown to the lions in the Colosseum.

---

Example Sentences

She said she wanted to walk out of court as she was about to step into the witness box as she felt she had been "thrown to the lions".

From BBC • Jul. 9, 2023

Gucci geek chic, you shall not be thrown to the lions!

From The Guardian • Mar. 7, 2016

As David Brooks says, we have created a “coliseum culture” in which some new celebrity gets thrown to the lions on a weekly basis.

From Time • Jul. 8, 2015

His colleague, Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand, said Polanski was being "thrown to the lions for an old story that doesn't really make any sense."

From Washington Post • Jul. 12, 2010

He was not a martyr for the faith, like those who had been thrown to the lions by the Roman emperors.

From A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII by Gardiner, Samuel Rawson