have the wolf by the ear
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Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Initially attributed to Roman Emperor Tiberius circa year 0 AD, by biographer C. Suetonius Tranquillus [1]
US, 1820, by Thomas Jefferson, writing about the institution of slavery and the Missouri compromise:[2]
- “But, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.”
- —Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes, (discussing slavery and the Missouri question), Monticello, 22 April 1820.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb[edit]
have the wolf by the ear (third-person singular simple present has the wolf by the ear, present participle having the wolf by the ear, simple past and past participle had the wolf by the ear)
- (idiomatic) To be in a dangerous situation from which one cannot disengage, but in which one cannot safely remain.
Usage notes[edit]
Original form is “have the wolf by the ear”; common variants are “hold” rather than “have”, “a wolf” rather than “the wolf”, and plural “ears” rather than singular “ear”.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to be in a difficult situation
References[edit]
- ^ http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html
- ^ Wolf by the ears, The Jefferson Encyclopedia
