tight squeeze

1. A difficulty caused by too little time or space, or too little credit or funds. For example, It will be a tight squeeze to get there on time, or I don't know if the sofa will go through the door; it's a tight squeeze, or The company's in a tight squeeze because of poor cash flow. This idiom uses tight in the sense of “too narrow or constricted.” [c. 1900]

Example Sentences

But because some kinds of spending - like health or defence - are getting significant extra cash, there's a tight squeeze on day-to-day spending more or less everywhere else.

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She earned a joint UK sports photo of the year award for her image, 'A Tight Squeeze', which depicts two rhythmic gymnasts going through a single hoop in 1983, a snap she is very proud of.

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The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment, a potentially tight squeeze for a family just starting over after a wildfire, is $2,995, according to Zillow data.

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Not far from the sign, Marini walks through a narrow opening in a stack of boulders — a tight squeeze when rescuers are carrying someone out on a stretcher.

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The family and their three dogs had to stay with Catherine's parents, which was a tight squeeze.

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Related Words

• cliffhanger