English Explanatory Dictionary

between the hammer and the anvil

English dictionary entry

Meanings

prep_phrase
  1. With the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.

Pronunciation

en-au-between the hammer and the anvil.ogg

Word forms

between the hammer and the anvil

Etymology

Referring to the metal on a blacksmith's anvil, which is beaten with a hammer.

Synonyms

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 on the horns of a dilemma
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