English

Prepositional phrase

up a tree

1. (idiomatic, dated) In or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered.
   • 1864, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Uncle Silas, ch. 53:

     "I'm a bit up a tree, Miss," he said shuffling his feet on the oak floor. "I behaved a d---- fool."

   • 1891, Laura E. Richards, Hildegarde's Holiday, ch. 14:

     I found the doctor in his study, and the whole room full of rods and lines and reels. . . . When he called me to come and look at his flies I was all up a tree, and didn't know what he was talking about.

   • 1894, Robert Barr, In the Midst of Alarms, ch. 7:

     "Oh, I'm up a tree again. I see I don't even know the A B C of this business."

   • 1904, O. Henry, "The Handbook of Hymen" in Heart of the West:

     "You're a liar," says I, a little riled that Idaho should try to put me up a tree.

   • 1909, P. G. Wodehouse, Mike: A Public School Story, ch. 40:

     The general consensus of opinion in Outwood's during the luncheon interval was that, having got Downing's up a tree, they would be fools not to make the most of the situation.

Synonyms

• over a barrel, perplexed, stumped, up the creek

References

• up a tree at OneLook Dictionary Search