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

"I think they've got us all over a barrel," she said.

From BBC • May 4, 2026

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 • Jun. 28, 2022

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

From Slate • Jun. 6, 2022

"They tried to renegotiate their contracts halfway through the show and hold the producers over a barrel by walking out," she said in reference to a walkout that happened ahead of the shooting.

From Fox News • Nov. 2, 2021

“They’ve got us over a barrel and they know it.”

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool