From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English(leave somebody/something) high and dry(leave somebody/something) high and dryHELP a) if someone is left high and dry, they are left without any help or without the things that they need b) if a boat, area etc is left high and dry, it is left on land because the water that surrounded it has gone down The once-thriving port of Rye was left high and dry as sea levels retreated. → high
Examples from the Corpus
(leave somebody/something) high and dry• Between breakups the continents stood high and dry.• But at Hereford, the oil level had been allowed to drop, leaving the probe high and dry.• It is profitable, but it leaves the comic muse high and dry.• The pirates left us high and dry!• Unfortunately, instead of being integrated in a general hospital as planned, the wing will now be left high and dry.• When Matt married Inez I was left high and dry.• Otherwise, a drop in the water level might leave boaters high and dry and give property owners mudflat views.• Some crews actually rope cell phones down to high and dry rock climbers to get information. 