over a barrel

Idioms  

1. In a weak or difficult position, as in Once the competitors found a flaw in our product, they had us over a barrel. This slangy expression, first recorded in 1938, supposedly alludes to reviving a drowning victim by placing the body head down over a barrel and rolling it back and forth, so as to empty the lungs of water. The expression survives, although happily the practice does not.

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Example Sentences

It said the "unacceptable outcome" followed a pattern seen at other opencast sites, where councils were "held over a barrel", facing huge costs if companies ultimately decided to walk away.

From BBC

“Don’t get me wrong, Musk is a thin-skinned erratic hypocrite, but he’s got us over a barrel,” she added, until another social media platform comes along to rival it.

From Washington Post

"It's a private market, so we've been put over a barrel," said Victoria Cusworth, who is responsible for children and young people at Rotherham Council.

From BBC

If you haven’t jumped over a barrel since “Donkey Kong,” you may be reluctant to read Gabrielle Zevin’s immersive new novel about video game designers.

From Washington Post

“We are over a barrel here,” Steinberg said in April.

From Slate