WITHOUT A LEG TO STAND ON Definition & Meaning

without a leg to stand on

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]

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

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"A lot of accommodation providers, particularly universities, have reacted well but many students, mostly those renting from private landlords, have been left without a leg to stand on."

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

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“We don’t simply up and leave . . . the diplomats without a leg to stand on against people who have no diplomatic inclination,” Mattis said.

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Legally, the government is without a leg to stand on.

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without without a stitch on

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without a leg to stand on

Example Sentences