leave someone holding the baby

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leave someone holding the baby (third-person singular simple present leaves someone holding the baby, present participle leaving someone holding the baby, simple past and past participle left someone holding the baby)

1. (idiomatic) To abandon someone and put them in a position where they must take the responsibility or blame.
   • 2003, Vincent Roth, A Life in Guyana: The Later Years, 1923-1935, Peepal Tree, published 2003, →ISBN, page 160:

     He said he was very uneasy as the schooner owner owed him over $500 and he couldn't get a cent and feared that the owners had gone bankrupt and left him holding the baby.

   • 2006, Mark Osborne, How to Cheat at Managing Information Security, Syngress Publishing, Inc., published 2006, →ISBN, page 125:

     This statement might sound lame, but operations and network management will try to squeeze everything into one domestic home firewall hanging off a small DSL line. Then they will leave you holding the baby.

   • 2009, Adrian Arnold, The Internet for the Older and Wiser: Get Up and Running Safely on the Web, John Wiley & Sons, published 2009, →ISBN, page 181:

     With many of these seized goods auctions condition is everything and I would recommend that, having checked out the goods online, you go to the auction house and view the lots. You will not only get to see the goods themselves but you can find out a lot about the auctioneers themselves. They may be well-established businesses but others could be fly-by-nights and gone the next morning, leaving you holding the baby.

• leave somebody in the lurch
• leave someone holding the bag