A: I think we should take time out and visit Jenny more often. When her husband died, it kind of left her high and dry.

    B: I guess her husband didn’t leave her a lot of money and since she doesn’t have a job, her life can be difficult.

    Note: This idiom means “stranded, without help or hope of recovery,” or simply “in difficulty.” It originally referred to ships that were beached. The “dry” implies that, not only were they out of the water, but had been for some time and could be expected to remain so. It was first used in a “Ship News” column in The Times, August 1796, referring to a Russian frigate that was left “nearly high and dry.”