Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

have the tiger by the tail

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.02 in modern English

Syllables
have the tiger by the -tail
IPA
39
Scrabble Score
21
Letters
2
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To be in a difficult or dangerous situation in which one ideally should not remain, but from which one cannot withdraw.

Example Sentences

Inflected Forms

has the tiger by the tail (present, singular) having the tiger by the tail (participle, present) had the tiger by the tail (participle, past) had the tiger by the tail (past) have a tiger by the tail (alternative)

Synonyms

have the wolf by the ear

Questions

What does have the tiger by the tail mean?
To be in a difficult or dangerous situation in which one ideally should not remain, but from which one cannot withdraw.

How to pronounce have the tiger by the tail

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “have the tiger by the tail”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “have the tiger by the tail”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “have the tiger by the tail” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.