Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

in a cleft stick

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.93 in modern English

Syllables: in- a -cleft- -stick
IPA

24

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

5

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep_phrase

In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma.

Australian usage; British usage; Dated

prep_phrase

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, cleft, stick.

Example Sentences

"Ha! I see. You have got me in a cleft stick."
"Such a solution only puts the humanist in a cleft stick by trading the problem of malnutrition for that of over-population."
"But considerations in drafting Sonia Gandhi apart, the Congress leadership is clearly caught in a cleft stick, with or without the services of Rajiv Gandhi′s widow."
"Hence when a Huichol woman is about to weave or embroider, her husband catches a large serpent and holds it in a cleft stick, while the woman strokes the reptile with one hand down the whole length of its back; …"

Etymology

From the metaphor of being caught in a tight position, unable to move.

Usage

Synonyms

on the horns of a dilemma between a rock and a hard place between Scylla and Charybdis between the devil and the deep blue sea between the hammer and the anvil between two fires damned if one does and damned if one doesn't doomed if you do doomed if you don't in a cleft stick in bad bread

Questions

What does in a cleft stick mean?: In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma.
Where does in a cleft stick come from?: From the metaphor of being caught in a tight position, unable to move.

How to pronounce in a cleft stick

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