without a leg to stand on

Idioms

With no chance of success, as in He tried to get the town to change the street lights, but because there was no money in the budget he found himself without a leg to stand on. A related idiom is not have a leg to stand on, as in Once the detective exposed his false alibi, he didn't have a leg to stand on. This metaphoric idiom transfers lack of physical support to arguments or theories. [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I think the businesses were left without a leg to stand on.

From Slate • May 17, 2021

The ruling handed down last week left Mr. Fox without a leg to stand on.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mama Mwanza without a leg to stand on lost her two smallest ones.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

I know not if Rockland will ever be finished, for it is continually disemboweling itself, coining its rock foundations, until perchance it may some day be left without a leg to stand on.

From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams

That side was profoundly grateful, for they put heart into the timid, decided the wavering, and left the Tory writers without a leg to stand on.

From The Conqueror by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023