in a bind

1. Also,. In a difficult, threatening, or embarrassing position; also, unable to solve a dilemma. For example, He's put us in a bind: we can't refuse, but at the same time we can't fill the order, or Jim's in a box; he can't afford to pay what he owes us, or He quit without giving notice and now we're really in a hole, or We always end up in a jam during the holiday season, or He's in a tight corner with those new customers, or We'll be in a tight spot unless we can find another thousand dollars. All these colloquial terms allude to places from which one can't easily extricate oneself. The phrase using bind was first recorded in 1851; box, 1865; jam, 1914; tight spot, 1852. Also see in a fix.

Example Sentences

The scaled-back federal response has left places like St. Louis in a bind.

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But finding yourself in a bind necessitates clever solutions, and Park’s already dark comedy turns jet-black as the director reveals that stress can beget new talents.

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These decisions put some of the largest housing developments affected by the fires in a bind.

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“The IOC is really in a bind too,” said Mark Dyreson, a sports historian at Penn State.

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Good government advocates are stuck in a bind, as Republicans in Texas push to squeeze five more Republican seats out of their state with new maps, and Democrats in states where anti-gerrymandering reforms have taken hold look to fight back with new maps of their own.

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Related Words

• belated 
• delayed 
• delinquent 
• overdue 
• sluggish