English
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Etymology
[edit]According to The Oxford English Dictionary and The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, the phrase possibly refers to the act of placing an individual who has been rescued from drowning over a barrel to allow their lungs to clear of water.[1][2]
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Prepositional phrase
[edit]- (idiomatic) In a disadvantageous or helpless situation, especially one in which one may be controlled or victimized.
- 1947 September 1, “Happy Day”, in Time:
- Ford had the U.A.W. over a barrel; if it failed to sign by midnight, the U.A.W. would be forced to give up its union shop.
- 2018 September 1, “AP sources: Lawyer was told Russia had 'Trump over a barrel'”, in AP News:
- Bruce Ohr revealed that "an unnamed former Russian intelligence official had communicated that Russian intelligence believed 'they had Trump over a barrel', a "sentiment [that] is echoed in Steele's dossier".
Synonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]in a helpless situation
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References
[edit]- ^ Ayto, John, editor (18 August 2020), “barrel”, in The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, 4th edition, Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBN
- ^ John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “barrel, noun.”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 969, column 1.
- “over a barrel”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “over a barrel”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.