desolate vs hang out to dry

desolate

verb
  • To abandon or forsake something. 

  • To devastate or lay waste somewhere. 

  • To deprive of inhabitants. 

  • To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless. 

adj
  • Made unfit for habitation or use because of neglect, destruction etc. 

  • Barren and lifeless. 

  • Dismal or dreary. 

  • Deserted and devoid of inhabitants. 

  • Sad, forlorn and hopeless. 

hang out to dry

verb
  • To abandon someone who is in need or in danger, especially a colleague or one dependent. 

  • Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hang, out, dry. 

How often have the words desolate and hang out to dry occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )