To be led into a disastrous, hopeless place or situation; to follow someone who (intentionally or unknowingly) leads to collapse, defeat, or dire consequences.
It originates from folk
legend and works of
art (
M. I. Glinka'
s opera "A Life for the Tsar") about the Kostroma peasant Ivan Susanin from the early 17th century. According to
legend, during the Time of Troubles, he agreed to serve as a guide for Polish-Lithuanian invader troops searching for the young Tsar Mikhail Romanov, and deliberately led them into a dense, impenetrable forest, where they perished.