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like pulling teeth

Idioms  
  1. Very difficult, especially to extract information from someone. For example, It's like pulling teeth to get a straight answer from him.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Nicola Irvine, who lives in Crews Hole, said it had been like "pulling teeth" getting the EA to investigate the pollution since she contacted them in July 2025.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Now, it’s like pulling teeth to get a shark film with more than one decent creature shot — the 300 razor-sharp teeth of a great white, to be exact.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2025

As you might imagine, interviewing Lawrence and Vaughn isn’t like pulling teeth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2024

I didn’t want to sit in a room and write lyrics and it’s always been a bit of like pulling teeth for me.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024

It was like pulling teeth to get me and Bobby Gene to play ball.

From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon

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