to fail someone, to let someone down, to leave (someone behind), to desert someone, to abandon
[Dutch phrase of the week]
"Steek" literally translates to "sting" or "stab". "In de steek laten" however describes a situation when someone or something fails to help you in a critical situation, often fleeing the scene.
Examples:
– "Mijn auto laat me om de haverklap in de steek."
("My car lets me down continually.")
– "Heeft Jan Yolanthe in de steek gelaten, of andersom?" – "Lekker belangrijk…"
("Did Jan leave Yolanthe behind, or was it the other way around?" – "As if I care…")
– "Het voelt alsof ik door Frank in de steek ben gelaten."
("It feels as if I’ve been let down by Frank.")
Expressions:
– "Met de noorderzon vertrekken": to leave without notice to an unknown destination.
Related words:
– Vlucht: flight, escape [noun] [de vlucht, de vluchten].
– Vluchten: to flee/to escape/to fly/to run (away) [verb] [vluchten, vluchtte, gevlucht].
– Ontvluchten: to flee/to escape (from) [verb] [ontvluchten, ontvluchtte, ontvlucht].
– Dumpen: to dump [verb] [dumpen, dumpte, gedumpt].
– Pech: breakdown, trouble [noun] [de pech, <no plural>].
Example:
– "Marc heeft pech met zijn auto: de lamp rechtsvoor doet het niet meer."
("Marc has trouble with his car: the headlight on the right has broken down.")



You will hear both “reserveren” and “een reservering maken”, but “reserveren” is more common. The past participle “gereserveerd” is also used as an adjective or adverb, see the Related words.