have the tiger by the tail
English
Alternative forms
Verb
have the tiger by the tail (third-person singular simple present has the tiger by the tail, present participle having the tiger by the tail, simple past and past participle had the tiger by the tail)
- (idiomatic) To be in a difficult or dangerous situation in which one ideally should not remain, but from which one cannot withdraw.
- 1965, Frank Herbert, Dune, Berkley (2005), →ISBN, page 225:
- "We have the tiger by the tail," Paul whispered. "We can't go down, can't land…and I don't think I can lift us out of this. We'll have to ride it out."
- 1965, Frank Herbert, Dune, Berkley (2005), →ISBN, page 225:
Synonyms
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