between the hammer and the anvil en · ADP
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Referring to the metal on a blacksmith's anvil, which is beaten with a hammer.
Meanings
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(UK, idiomatic) With the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.
Yet for a time the nation was again placed between the democracy of the levellers and the despotism of the Stuarts, — between the hammer and the anvil.
1848, Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné, The Protector, a vindication, page 250:The sinner / Will testify / They'll suffer / When sacrificed on high / The burning sermons purge their evil words / Between the hammer and the anvil
1990, Judas Priest, Between The Hammer and the Anvil:
Synonyms
between the devil and the deep blue sea · doomed if you do · in bad bread · between a rock and a hard place · doomed if you don't · on the horns of a dilemma · between Scylla and Charybdis · in a cleft stick · between two fires · damned if one does and damned if one doesn't · between the hammer and the anvil · between a rock and a hard place · between Scylla and Charybdis · between the devil and the deep blue sea
Translations (16)
it tra l'incudine e il martello (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · fr la peste ou le choléra (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · fi puun ja kuoren välissä (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · yi צווישן האַמער און קאָוואַדלע (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · pl między młotem a kowadłem (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · de zwischen Hammer und Amboss (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · el μεταξύ σφύρας και άκμονος (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · ar بَيْنَ ٱلْمِطْرَقَةِ وَٱلسِّنْدَانِ (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · sv mellan hammaren och städet (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · az yuxarı tüpürürsən bığ; aşağı tüpürürsən saqqal (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · ru между молотом и наковальней (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · fr entre le marteau et l'enclume (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · ro prins între ciocan și nicovală (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · bg между чука и наковалнята (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · he בֵּין הַפַּטִּישׁ וְהַסַּדָּן (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options) · az çəkiclə zindan arasında (with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options)