on the horns of a dilemma

Cultural  

1. To be divided between two seemingly equal options and to be undecided as to which option to choose: “When Mary was offered two equally attractive jobs, she found herself on the horns of a dilemma.”

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on the horns of a dilemma Idioms  

1. see horns of a dilemma.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

on the horns of a dilemma

Mattis studied Sherman’s March to the Sea at the end of the Civil War, looking for insight on how “to always keep enemies on the horns of a dilemma, left or right, front or back.”

From Washington Post ● Sep. 4, 2019

The response to Zootopia reminds us that zoos today are caught on the horns of a dilemma regarding their relationship with the wilderness.

From Slate ● Mar. 3, 2016

Such people will soon be impaled on the horns of a dilemma if Johnathan Napier of Rothamsted Research, an agricultural establishment in southern England, has his way.

From Economist ● Jul. 9, 2015

If inflation strengthens, however, the Fed could find itself on the horns of a dilemma.

From New York Times ● May 30, 2014

Being thus placed on the horns of a dilemma, the wisest plan is, perhaps, to let matters take their course—at all events I have made up my mind to do so.

From The Story of My Life Being Reminiscences of Sixty Years' Public Service in Canada by Hodgins, J. George (John George)