pulling teeth
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Nonetheless, I have to say that he had an unbeatable method for pulling teeth, which had made him justly famous throughout the region.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
