A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

hide and hair • neither hide nor hair
hide and hair —(coll.) 
1
. completely; wholly: And I don’t
mean to do the thing by halves. No; I shall save you, hide and
hair. 2. (in the phrase “eat someone up hide and hair”) hurt or
otherwise seriously harm a person: Mother had often said that
anybody could eat us up hide and hair before help arrived
from the camp.
neither hide nor hair —(coll.) not a trace of a person’s pres-
ence; nothing whatever: The bank was robbed two months
ago, but the police could find neither hide nor hair of the
criminals yet.
hide one’s head • hide one’s head in the sand
hide one’s head —
1
. lower one’s head because of shame or
embarrassment : Tim hid his head in shame as two police
officers came and led him away. 2. keep out of sight (to avoid
danger, etc.): The hart pursued by hounds chooses rather to
give up its life than to hide its head in the grove…
hide one’s head in the sand —ignore unpleasant realities: I
loved even your talent for hiding your head in the sand when
you can no longer avoid the ugliness before your eyes.
high and dry • high-dried
high and dry —
1
. (of a stranded ship) cast on the shore: The
small Mexican brig which had been cast away in a south-easter
… now lay up, high and dry. 2. in a helpless or abandoned
position: Millions of old people were left high and dry during
periods of economic decline. 3. (U.S. diners) a plain sandwich
without butter, mayonnaise, or lettuce: Keep your kids’ sand-
wiches high and dry. Pack the filling and the bread in separate
baggies for easy lunchroom assembly.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase home and dry—(UK coll.) definitely safe or successful:
The governments will not be home and dry until they have
completed the ratification process.
high-dried —(of fish, etc.) deprived of most of its moisture
by drying: There were brown beers made by a new type of
brown malt known as “high dried malt.”