have the tiger by the tail

• have a tiger by the tail

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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)

1. (idiomatic) To be in a difficult or dangerous situation in which one ideally should not remain, but from which one cannot withdraw.
   • 1965, Frank Herbert, Dune‎ (Science Fiction), New York: Ace Books, →OCLC, page 238‎:

     "We have the tiger by the tail," Paul whispered. "We can't go down, can't land…and I don't think I can lift us out of this. We'll have to ride it out."

• have the wolf by the ear