have the tiger by the tail (English, verb)
expansion: have the tiger by the tail (third-person singular simple present has the tiger by the tail, present participle having the tiger by the tail, simple past and past participle had the tiger by the tail)
Senses:
glosses: To be in a difficult or dangerous situation in which one ideally should not remain, but from which one cannot withdraw.
tags: idiomatic
Forms:
form: has the tiger by the tail
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: having the tiger by the tail
tags: participle
present
form: had the tiger by the tail
tags: participle
past
form: had the tiger by the tail
tags: past
form: have a tiger by the tail
tags: alternative