adrift

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be cut adrift

To be detached or cut off from something. Likened to a boat having its mooring cut so that it drifts freely in the water. She was cut adrift after her parents found drugs in her room and kicked her out of the house.

cast adrift

1. Literally, of a ship or sailors, to float on a body of water without control or anchorage. The team was cast adrift in the Atlantic for 17 days before a rescue party found them.

2. To be let go, freed, or lost. Likened to a ship that drifts without an anchor or moorings to a dock. When I arrived in the country, I found myself cast adrift in a city I didn't know, among people whose language I couldn't speak. With my inheritance money, I was cast adrift to pursue whatever life I fancied.

3. To leave someone to float on a body of water without control or anchorage. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "cast" and "adrift." That awful storm cast us adrift in the Atlantic for 17 days before a rescue party found us.

4. To let someone go or cause them to be freed or lost; to no longer support someone. Likened to a ship that is left to drift without an anchor or moorings to a dock. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "cast" and "adrift." I think it's about time that we cast the extremists of the party adrift. Her parents cut her adrift after they found drugs in her room.

cast loose

Let go, freed, or lost. Likened to a ship that drifts without an anchor or moorings to a dock. When I arrived in the country, I found myself cast loose in a city I didn't know, among people whose language I couldn't speak. With my inheritance money, I was cast loose to pursue whatever life I fancied.

cut adrift

To abandon or set free. Likened to a boat having its mooring cut so that it drifts freely in the water. I think it's about time that we cut adrift the extremists of the party.

run adrift

1. Literally, of a sailing vessel, to float on a body of water without control or anchorage. The boat lost power and ran adrift in the Atlantic for 17 days before a rescue party finally found it.

2. To progress or exist in a wandering or aimless manner. The whole country seems to be running adrift, in my opinion. My imagination began running adrift with the worst possible thoughts of what might have happened.

set adrift

1. Literally, to cause a vessel or its crew to float on a body of water without control or anchorage. (In each usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "set" and "adrift.") The team was set adrift in the Atlantic for 17 days before a rescue party found them. Our best bet is to set the boat adrift and hope the current carries us to shore.

2. By extension, to cause or allow someone or some group to be or progress without direction or restraint. Often used in passive constructions. When I arrived in the country, I found myself set adrift in a city I didn't know, among people whose language I couldn't speak. With my inheritance money, I was set adrift to pursue whatever life I fancied.

3. To dissociate from or no longer support someone or something. I think it's about time that we set adrift the more extreme factions of this political party. Sarah's parents set her adrift after they found drugs in her room.

cast loose

Also, cast adrift. Let go, freed, as in After Rob was suspended from boarding school, he was cast loose with nowhere to go, or Selling her home meant she was cast adrift with no financial ties or responsibilities. Originally a nautical term for releasing a vessel, this idiom was being used figuratively by the late 1500s.

cut adrift

Separated or detached; freed. For example, The dissenters were cut adrift from the denomination. This expression alludes to cutting the rope of a floating vessel so that it drifts without direction or purpose. The figurative use of adrift dates from the late 1600s.

cast (or cut) someone adrift

1 leave someone in a boat or other craft which has nothing to secure or guide it. 2 abandon or isolate someone.

2 1998 Oldie The various dissenting movements…should be cut adrift and left to their own devices.