in a bind

Idioms  

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.

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Example Sentences

Experts say this leaves both sides in a bind.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

More rarely, I’ll buy books new, though usually only if I’m in a bind and need something to read for a trip.

From Slate • Mar. 8, 2026

This puts victimized taxpayers in a bind, Camp told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026

The bond vigilantes —to borrow a term economist Ed Yardeni used to describe the activist fixed-income investors who tried to rein in inflation in the 1980s—have European governments in a bind already.

From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025

Howard’s insistence that his horse would not run under more than 130 pounds had put track handicappers in a bind.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• belated
• delayed
• delinquent
• overdue
• sluggish