adverb (or adjective)
1. obsolete : in a defenseless position : at a disadvantage
he took me in the lurch — Thomas D'Urfey
2. : in a vulnerable, difficult, or embarrassing position without support — used with leave
at the peak of the noonday rush the cashier stalked out and left him in the lurch
the United States cannot … leave the British in the lurch in their struggle against this exhibition of nationalism — Neal Stanford