Forced to turn and face attackers:
— A stag at bay.
synonyms: cornered, trapped, treed.
Roget 665:
in danger
etc.
n.;
endangered
etc.
v.;
fraught with danger;
dangerous,
hazardous,
perilous,
parlous,
periculous†;
unsafe,
unprotected
etc.
(safe, protect)
etc.
664;
insecure.
untrustworthy;
built upon. sand,
on a sandy basis;
wildcat.
defenseless,
fenceless,
guardless†,
harborless;
unshielded;
vulnerable,
expugnable†,
exposed;
open to
etc.
(liable)
177.
aux abois [Fr.],
at bay;
on the wrong side of the wall,
on a lee shore,
on the rocks.
at stake,
in question;
precarious,
critical,
ticklish;
slippery,
slippy;
hanging by a thread
etc.
v.;
with a halter round one's neck;
between the hammer and the anvil,
between Scylla and Charybdis,
between a rock and a hard place,
between the devil and the deep blue sea,
between two fires;
on the edge of a precipice,
on the brink of a precipice,
on the verge of a precipice,
on the edge of a volcano;
in the lion's den,
on slippery ground,
under fire;
not out of the wood.
unwarned,
unadmonished,
unadvised,
unprepared
etc.
674;
off one's guard
etc.
(inexpectant)
508†.
tottering;
unstable,
unsteady;
shaky,
top-heavy,
tumbledown,
ramshackle,
crumbling,
waterlogged;
helpless,
guideless†;
in a bad way;
reduced to the last extremity,
at the last extremity;
trembling in the balance;
nodding to its fall
etc.
(destruction)
162.
threatening
etc.
909;
ominous,
illomened;
alarming
etc.
(fear)
860;
explosive.
adventurous
etc.
(rash)
863,
(bold)
861.
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Roget 704:
difficult,
not easy,
hard,
tough;
troublesome,
toilsome,
irksome;
operose†,
laborious,
onerous,
arduous,
Herculean,
formidable;
sooner said than done;
more easily said than done,
easier said than done.
difficult to deal with,
hard to deal with;
ill-conditioned,
crabbed,
crabby;
not to be handled with kid gloves,
not made with rose water.
awkward,
unwieldy,
unmanageable;
intractable,
stubborn
etc.
(obstinate)
606;
perverse,
refractory,
plaguy†,
trying,
thorny,
rugged;
knotted,
knotty;
invious†;
pathless,
trackless;
labyrinthine
etc.
(convoluted)
248;
intricate,
complicated
etc.
(tangled)
59;
impracticable
etc.
(impossible)
471;
not feasible
etc.
470;
desperate
etc.
(hopeless)
859.
embarrassing,
perplexing
etc.
(uncertain)
475;
delicate,
ticklish,
critical;
beset with difficulties,
full of difficulties,
surrounded by difficulties,
entangled by difficulties,
encompassed with difficulties.
under a difficulty;
in a box;
in difficulty,
in hot water,
in the suds,
in a cleft stick,
in a fix,
in the wrong box,
in a scrape
etc.
n.,
in deep water,
in a fine pickle;
in extremis;
between two stools,
between Scylla and Charybdis;
surrounded by shoals,
surrounded by breakers,
surrounded by quicksands;
at cross purposes;
not out of the wood.
reduced to straits;
hard pressed,
sorely pressed;
run hard;
pinched,
put to it,
straitened;
hard up,
hard put to it,
hard set;
put to one's shifts;
puzzled,
at a loss,
etc.
(uncertain)
475;
at the end of one's tether,
at the end of one's rope,
at one's wit's end,
at a nonplus,
at a standstill;
graveled,
nonplused,
nonplussed,
stranded,
aground;
stuck fast,
set fast;
up a tree,
at bay,
aux abois [Fr.],
driven into a corner,
driven from pillar to post,
driven to extremity,
driven to one's wit's end,
driven to the wall;
au bout de son Latin;
out of one's depth;
thrown out.
accomplished with difficulty;
hard-fought,
hard-earned.
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