over a barrel
to be in a helpless situation
TRANSLATION
over a barrel = keine Wahl haben, in der Zange, jmdm. ausgeliefert sein, --- GOOGLE INDEX over a barrel: approximately 1,700,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"...junior doctors have only one option as an employer in the UK: the NHS. That means Jeremy Hunt has them OVER A BARREL – they accept his terms or they leave the NHS."
The Guardian
The Guardian
Did you
know?
(to have someone) over a barrel
idiom
- to put someone in a very difficult situation in which they have no choice about what to do
(Cambridge Idioms Dictionary)
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The Oxford Dictionary says this American expression stems from the once common practice of laying a drowning person on — or over — a barrel in order to clear the water from their lungs and revive them. While there is plenty of documented evidence of this form of rescue, it's not clear if this is really the origin of the figure of speech, which refers to placing someone in a situation where they have no options.
A more likely source of this phrase is a form of punishment that once involved tying a person's arms and legs and throwing on or rolling them over a barrel.
There are less painful ways to use barrel in an idiom however:
- more fun than a barrel of monkeys/barrel of laughs = very humorous, fun (You'll like him. He's more fun than a barrel of monkeys. He's a barrel of laughs)
- bottom of the barrel = of the lowest quality (I regret having bought this car. It's the bottom of the barrel)
- barrel along = to move rapidly (We were barrelling along when suddenly an animal crossed the road)
- barrel in = to move into a place rapidly and with great force (Hey, you can't just barrel in here like that and interrupt the meeting!)
- barrel out = to move quickly out of a place (He usually barrels out of the office at exactly 5:00 p.m.)
- like shooting fish in a barrel = ridiculously easy (Fixing the computer was like shooting fish in a barrel)
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SYNONYMS
in a jam, in a mess, in a pickle, in an awkward position, without choices
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The software company has you over a barrel – if you don't accept the license, you can't use the software."
idiom
- to put someone in a very difficult situation in which they have no choice about what to do
(Cambridge Idioms Dictionary)
---
The Oxford Dictionary says this American expression stems from the once common practice of laying a drowning person on — or over — a barrel in order to clear the water from their lungs and revive them. While there is plenty of documented evidence of this form of rescue, it's not clear if this is really the origin of the figure of speech, which refers to placing someone in a situation where they have no options.
A more likely source of this phrase is a form of punishment that once involved tying a person's arms and legs and throwing on or rolling them over a barrel.
There are less painful ways to use barrel in an idiom however:
- more fun than a barrel of monkeys/barrel of laughs = very humorous, fun (You'll like him. He's more fun than a barrel of monkeys. He's a barrel of laughs)
- bottom of the barrel = of the lowest quality (I regret having bought this car. It's the bottom of the barrel)
- barrel along = to move rapidly (We were barrelling along when suddenly an animal crossed the road)
- barrel in = to move into a place rapidly and with great force (Hey, you can't just barrel in here like that and interrupt the meeting!)
- barrel out = to move quickly out of a place (He usually barrels out of the office at exactly 5:00 p.m.)
- like shooting fish in a barrel = ridiculously easy (Fixing the computer was like shooting fish in a barrel)
---
SYNONYMS
in a jam, in a mess, in a pickle, in an awkward position, without choices
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The software company has you over a barrel – if you don't accept the license, you can't use the software."
