high and dry

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Adjective

high and dry (not comparable)

1. Left out of water, stranded on a beach, or in the stocks for repair, or in dry dock.
2. (idiomatic) Abandoned, stranded, helpless.

   Synonyms: deserted, forsaken; see also Thesaurus:abandoned

3. (derogatory, idiomatic) Associated with the high church (the Church of England and other Anglican traditions, in reference to their "high" political position in England and "dry" and austere mode of worship), as opposed to the "low and slow" Evangelical party and the "broad and shallow" Broad Church.
   • 1844, A. H. Maltby, The New Englander‎, volume 2, page 321:

     "There are two recognized parties in the church of England, the old High-and-dry church party, and the so-called Evangelical. To one or other of these two the Anglo-Catholic must conform."

4. (US, idiomatic, slang, of a sandwich) With no condiments.

Derived terms

• leave someone high and dry

See also

• hard-and-fast
• high and mighty
• leave to one's own devices

References

• John Stephen Farmer, A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English: Abridged from the Seven-volume, page 222 (G. Routledge & Sons, limited, 1905)
• Albert Barrère, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant Embracing English, American, and Anglo-Indian Slang, Pidgin English, Gypsies' Jargon and Other Irregular Phraseology, Volume 1, page 435 (1897)
• Martin Robson, Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat: Naval Slang and Its Everyday Usage, page 50 (Anova Books, 2012)
• Barbara Ann Kipfer, Phraseology, page 137 (Sourcebooks, 2008)