Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

hold a gun to someone's head

Idioms  

  1. Exert pressure on someone, as in How could I refuse when she was holding a gun to my head? This hyperbolic expression dates from the first half of the 1900s. Also see at gunpoint; hold one's feet to the fire.

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training