hold someone's feet to the fire
Also, keep someone's feet to the fire. Pressure someone to consent to or undertake something, as in The only way you'll get him to agree is to hold his feet to the fire. This idiom alludes to an ancient test of courage or form of torture in which a person's feet were so placed. It began to be used figuratively in the second half of the 1900s. Also see hold a gun to someone's head.
RELATED CONTENT
What Does Calling Someone “Mom” On The Internet Mean?While Kim Kardashian was busy “breaking the Internet” with her controversial photoshoot for Paper in November of 2014, New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde was teaching the world—or at least her Twitter and Tumblr followers—about a new slang use of the word mom.
What Does It Mean To Ask Someone To Be Your “Valentine”?When did someone first choose a valentine? Here’s what we know about what it means when you make someone your Valentine. Choosing a sweetheart on this day dates to 14th-century English and French court circles. The act is credited to Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales in which he says: “For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd cometh there to chese …
Nearby words
hold one's temper, hold one's tongue, hold out, hold out on, hold over, hold someone's feet to the fire, hold still for, hold sway over, hold the bag, hold the fort, hold the line
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.