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in a bind

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, in a box or hole or jam or tight corner or tight spot . In a difficult, threatening, or embarrassing position; also, unable to solve a dilemma. For example, He's put us in a bind: we can't refuse, but at the same time we can't fill the order , or Jim's in a box; he can't afford to pay what he owes us , or He quit without giving notice and now we're really in a hole , or We always end up in a jam during the holiday season , or He's in a tight corner with those new customers , or We'll be in a tight spot unless we can find another thousand dollars . All these colloquial terms allude to places from which one can't easily extricate oneself. The phrase using bind was first recorded in 1851; box , 1865; jam , 1914; tight spot , 1852. Also see in a fix .

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Example Sentences

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Stephen Mumme, a political science professor at Colorado State University who is an expert in the treaty, said low water levels have left Sheinbaum in a bind: “There’s only so much Mexico can do.”

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Thus, recipients are in a bind.

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Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky is in a bind.

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This places the French police in a bind: They are trying to save lives.

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“Now they can’t. That does put us in a bind.”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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