English

Verb

have the wolf by the ear ‎(third-person singular simple present has the wolf by the ear, present participle having the wolf by the ear, simple past and past participle had the wolf by the ear)

1. (idiomatic) To be in a difficult situation – a dangerous situation from which one cannot disengage, but in which one cannot safely remain.

Usage notes

Original form is “have the wolf by the ear”; common variants are “hold” rather than “have”, “a wolf” rather than “the wolf”, and plural “ears” rather than singular “ear”.

Synonyms

• to be on the horns of a dilemma
• to have a tiger by the tail

Translations

References

1. ↑ http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html
2. ↑ Wolf by the ears, The Jefferson Encyclopedia