drop (someone or something) like a hot potato

drop (someone or something) like a hot potato

To abandon someone or something suddenly and completely, sometimes to avoid potential problems. I haven't seen Cynthia in weeks because she dropped me like a hot potato once she started hanging out with the cool kids. We dropped our renovation plans like a hot potato after finding out how much the job would cost.

See also: drop, hot, like, potato

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

drop someone or something like a hot potato

Fig. to disassociate oneself with someone or something instantly. When we learned of the conviction, we dropped him like a hot potato. I dropped the idea like a hot potato when the big boss said he didn't like it.

See also: drop, hot, like, potato

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

drop something like a hot potato

or

drop something like a hot brick

If you drop something or someone like a hot potato or drop them like a hot brick, you get rid of them as quickly as possible because they are difficult to deal with, or because you do not want them any more. He was celebrated in the media one minute and dropped like a hot potato the next. He panicked and dropped his lover like a hot brick.

See also: drop, hot, like, potato, something

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

drop someone or something like a hot potato

quickly abandon someone or something. informal

Drop here is used literally, but also in the figurative sense of ‘end a social acquaintance with someone’. A hot potato can be used independently as a metaphor for a controversial or awkward issue or problem that no one wants to deal with.

See also: drop, hot, like, potato, someone, something

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

drop someone/something like a hot potato

tv. to disassociate oneself with someone or something instantly. When we learned of the conviction, we dropped him like a hot potato.

See also: drop, hot, like, potato, someone, something

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

drop like a hot potato, to

To abandon as quickly as possible; to ditch. The simile is based on the fact that potatoes, which hold a fair amount of water, retain heat very well, as anyone who has so burned his or her fingers will testify. The figurative hot potato is likely to be an embarrassing subject or ticklish problem. The term originated as a colloquialism in the early nineteenth century. It probably was a cliché by the time W. Somerset Maugham wrote, “She dropped him, but not like a hot brick or a hot potato,” meaning that she let him down gently (Cakes and Ale, 1930).

See also: drop, hot, like, to

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer