leave someone stew—(also: let someone stew) keep a person in a state of uneasy anticipation or suspense:
- I knew that the group would be wondering what was going to happen next to them but I decided to leave them stew on it for a while.
leave someone stew in one’s own juice —(also: let someone stew in one’s own juice) leave a person to his own devices to suffer the consequences of his own actions:
- He’s run into debt again, but this time we’re leaving him to stew in his own juice.