Idiom
ride hard and put away wet
Meaning
To mistreat (someone or something); to not properly care for.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He rides his car hard and puts it away wet.”
“You ride your laptop hard and put it away wet by never cleaning it.”
“She rides her hiking boots hard and puts them away wet after every trip.”
“The rental company charged him extra because he rode the equipment hard and put it away wet.”
“After years of constant use without any maintenance, the old lawnmower looked like it had been ridden hard and put away wet.”
“The chef felt ridden hard and put away wet after working three double shifts in a row without a single break.”
“If you continue to ride that delivery van hard and put it away wet, the engine will eventually fail on the highway.”
“The manager consistently rode his staff hard and put them away wet, ignoring their exhaustion until the entire department eventually resigned.”
Examples
simple
“He rides his car hard and puts it away wet.”
“You ride your laptop hard and put it away wet by never cleaning it.”
“She rides her hiking boots hard and puts them away wet after every trip.”
contextual
“The rental company charged him extra because he rode the equipment hard and put it away wet.”
“After years of constant use without any maintenance, the old lawnmower looked like it had been ridden hard and put away wet.”
“The chef felt ridden hard and put away wet after working three double shifts in a row without a single break.”
“If you continue to ride that delivery van hard and put it away wet, the engine will eventually fail on the highway.”
complex
“The manager consistently rode his staff hard and put them away wet, ignoring their exhaustion until the entire department eventually resigned.”
Origin
The figurative senses are extensions from the literal sense, originating from the equestrian practice of riding a horse to exhaustion and stabling it while still hot and sweating. The neglect of the animal in this state was considered a failure of basic husbandry.
Key words
Related idioms
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