trust to a broken reed

verb

Roget 863: be rash etc. adj.; stick at nothing, play a desperate game; run into danger etc. 665; play with fire, play with edge tools.    carry too much sail, sail too near the wind, ride at single anchor, go out of one's depth.    take a leap in the dark, buy a pig in a poke.    donner tete baissee [Fr.]; knock, one's bead against a wall etc. (be unskillful) 699; rush on destruction; kick against the pricks, tempt Providence, go on a forlorn hope, go on a fool's errand.    reckon one's chickens before they are reckon one's chickens before they are hatched, count one's chickens before they are hatched, reckon without one's host; catch at straws; trust to a broken reed, lean on a broken reed.    ... show more

Roget 665: be in danger etc. adj.; be exposed to danger, run into danger, incur danger, encounter danger etc. n.; run a risk; lay oneself open to etc. (liability) 177; lean on a broken reed, trust to a broken reed; feel the ground sliding from under one, have to run for it; have the chances against one, have the odds against one, face long odds; be in deep trouble, be between a rock and a hard place.    hang by a thread, totter; sleep on a volcano, stand on a volcano; sit on a barrel of gunpowder, live in a glass house.    bring in danger, place in danger, put in danger, place in jeopardy, put in jeopardy etc. n.; endanger, expose to danger, imperil; jeopard^†, jeopardize; compromise; sail too near the wind etc. (rash) 863.    adventure, risk, hazard, venture, stake, set at hazard; run the gauntlet etc. (dare) 861; engage in a forlorn hope.    threaten danger etc. 909; run one hard; lay a trap for etc. (deceive) 545.    ... show more

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