in the hot seat
In an uncomfortable or embarrassing situation, usually by being subjected to severe criticism: “When the settlement talks broke down, he was in the hot seat with both management and labor.” The phrase is an extension of “hot seat,” slang for the electric chair.
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Nearby words
in the gutter, in the hands of, in the heat of, in the hole, in the hope, in the hot seat, in the interest of, in the interim, in the know, in the lap of luxury, in the least
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with in the hot seat
in the hot seat
see hot seat.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.