leave someone to their own devices
Leave someone to do as they wish without supervision: left to her own devices, Lucy wondered what she should do next...- Bemused families said they were left to their own devices while Army personnel began controlled explosions.
- Members of the community say they have been left to their own devices by law enforcement officials for many years, and are struggling between an instinctive resentment of police and a burgeoning sense of the size of the problem.
- Nature magically stimulates children's imaginations; their level of inventiveness and ingenuity seems to explode when they are left to their own devices.
See parent entry: device