Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

have a tiger by the tail

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.02 in modern English

Syllables
have a tiger by the -tail
IPA
34
Scrabble Score
19
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 a tiger by the tail (present, singular) having a tiger by the tail (participle, present) had a tiger by the tail (participle, past) had a tiger by the tail (past) have the tiger by the tail (alternative)

Synonyms

have the wolf by the ear

Questions

What does have a 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 a tiger by the tail

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “have a 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 a tiger by the tail”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “have a tiger by the tail” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.