over a barrel

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

over a barrel

1. (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".

• up a tree, up the creek
• See also have someone by the short hairs § Synonyms

• “over a barrel”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “over a barrel”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.