candle in the wind
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Noun edit
candle in the wind (plural candles in the wind)
- (idiomatic) A fragile or vulnerable thing, likely to be put in jeopardy.
- 1929, Earl Derr Biggers, chapter VII, in The Black Camel, Bobbs-Merrill:
- A woman of flame, they had called her. The flame had flickered and died like a candle in the wind--in the restless trade-wind blowing from the Koolau Range.
- 1990, Muthiah Alagappa, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (Malaysia), Building confidence, resolving conflicts: proceedings of the Second Asia-Pacific Roundtable, Kuala Lumpur, July 1-4, 1988, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, p. 14:
- The South Koreans have indeed accomplished an economic miracle in the past three decades but their economy is 'a candle in the wind' […]
- 1999, Royal African Society, African affairs, Volume 98, Published for the Royal African Society by the Oxford University Press, p. 114:
- ... tyranny in Cameroon today is a candle in the wind. Its days, it is hoped, are numbered ...
- 2004, K.D. Gangrade, Moral Lessons From Gandhi S Autobiography And Other Essays, Concept Publishing Company, page 178:
- There are a good number of people who feel that the girl child's life in India is a 'candle' in the wind which flickers for a moment to be extinguished for ever.
- 2007, Pacific indigenous dialogue: on faith, peace, reconciliation and good governance, Alafua Campus,Continuing and Community Education Programme, University of the South Pacific, p. 192:
- Sometimes around here, it seems like hope is a candle in the wind.
- 2010, Phillip Dibble, The Fundamental Things, AuthorHouse, page 91:
- Ethiopia is a candle in the wind, the winds of war and fate […]
Translations edit
a fragile or vulnerable thing
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