slender reed
A person, fact, or resource on which one can rely only to a limited extent.
"It was perfectly natural for you to think that a lad of eighteen was a slender reed to lean on in the time of trouble and danger."
slender
UK /ˈslɛndə/ US /ˈslɛndə/
adj 3noun 1
Definitions
adj
1
Thin; slim.
A rod is a long slender pole used for angling.
She is very slender.
2
Meagre; deficient.
Being a person of slender means, he was unable to afford any luxuries.
The grounds for the conjecture are somewhat slender.
3
Palatalized.
noun
1
A simple country gentleman.
[…] the fantastic pilgrimages imposed on the "Cousin Slenders" of the world by their more facetious comrades […]
[…] here also, behind the pillars, dark villains like Varney, and assassins like Iago, watched the simple country Slenders and the besotted Master Mathews, themselves grimly observed by honest water-carriers like Ben Jonson's Cob and Shakespeare's Adam.
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