in a cleft stick

English

Etymology

From the metaphor of being caught in a tight position, unable to move.

Pronunciation

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Prepositional phrase

in a cleft stick

1. (Australia, British, dated) In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma.
   • 1901–1903, [George] Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1903, →OCLC, Act I, page 11:

     Ha! I see. You have got me in a cleft stick.

   • 1964 September 3, H. Fullerton, Letters: Survival of the wild, New Scientist, Volume 23, No. 407, page 579:

     Such a solution only puts the humanist in a cleft stick by trading the problem of malnutrition for that of over-population.

   • 1991, Attar Chand, Rajiv Gandhi: His Mind and Ideology, page 214:

     But considerations in drafting Sonia Gandhi apart, the Congress leadership is clearly caught in a cleft stick, with or without the services of Rajiv Gandhi′s widow.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in,‎ cleft,‎ stick.
   • 1922, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, Forgotten Books, Easy Reading Series, page 31:

     Hence when a Huichol woman is about to weave or embroider, her husband catches a large serpent and holds it in a cleft stick, while the woman strokes the reptile with one hand down the whole length of its back; [...]