to the mercy of

idiom

: without any protection from (someone or something one cannot control)

He had to leave his boat to the mercy of the storm.

Examples of to the mercy of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Whether the Sawtooths and surrounding wilderness should be turned into a national recreation area or national park, or left to the mercy of big corporations who’d take advantage of the region’s natural resources. —Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024

You’re left to the mercy of phone calls and secondhand news. —Alex Convery, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023

But Brian cannot drive yet, leaving our Prius to the mercy of the Department of Parking and Traffic. —Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 July 2021

Doing so avoids leaving it to the mercy of the mail carrier. —David Rae, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2021

The Latino undocumented community, in particular, is invisible, vulnerable and left to the mercy of nonprofits that are stressed thin, said Maryland state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk, vice chair of the legislature’s Latino caucus. —Stephanie García, baltimoresun.com, 24 Nov. 2020

The Niña’s crew called the U.S. Coast Guard to see what the best case scenario would be if the ship’s dock were to break and send the ship to the mercy of the storm, Sanger said. —al, 25 Sep. 2020

And as the last six months have finally revealed, the attitude that drove these books has left their audience largely helpless, left to the mercy of fate as history changed all around them. —Colin Dickey, The New Republic, 7 Aug. 2020