dilemma
Related to dilemma: False dilemma, Moral dilemma
be on the horns of a dilemma
To struggle to choose between two problematic or unappealing options. I'm really on the horns of a dilemma here: do I say no to this great job opportunity, or do I accept it and move away from my family?
See also: dilemma, horn, of, on
on the horns of a dilemma
Struggling to choose between two problematic or unappealing options. I'm really on the horns of a dilemma here—do I say no to this great job opportunity, or do I accept it and move away from my family?
See also: dilemma, horn, of, on
the horns of a dilemma
Two problematic or unappealing options that one must choose between. I'm really on the horns of a dilemma here—do I say no to this great job opportunity, or do I accept it and move away from my family?
See also: dilemma, horn, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
on the horns of a dilemma
Fig. having to decide between two things, people, etc. Mary found herself on the horns of a dilemma. She didn't know which to choose. I make up my mind easily. I'm not on the horns of a dilemma very often.
See also: dilemma, horn, of, on
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
horns of a dilemma, on the
Faced with two equally undesirable alternatives. For example, I'm on the horns of a dilemma: if I sell the house now I have no place to live, but if I wait I may not get as good a price . This term was first recorded about 1600, but the idea of being caught on either one horn or the other (of an animal) was already expressed in Roman times.
See also: horn, of, on
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
the horns of a dilemma
If you are on the horns of a dilemma, you have to make a difficult choice between two alternatives. I find myself on the horns of a dilemma — whichever option I take, I'm going to disappoint someone. The police were on the horns of a dilemma. The girl appeared to be telling the truth, but it was her word against that of three officials. Note: In logic, a dilemma is a situation where an argument leads to two choices which are both undesirable. In the Middle Ages, a dilemma was traditionally represented as an animal with two horns such as a bull.
See also: dilemma, horn, of
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
on the horns of a dilemma
faced with a decision involving equally unfavourable alternatives.A mid 16th-century source described a dilemma as ‘a horned argument’ (after Latin argumentum cornutum ), the idea being that if you avoided one ‘horn’ of the argument you ended up impaled on the other.
See also: dilemma, horn, of, on
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
(on) the horns of a diˈlemma
(in) a situation in which you must make a choice between things which are equally unpleasant: I’m really on the horns of a dilemma. I need the car but I can’t afford it.See also: dilemma, horn, of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
on the horns of a dilemma
Faced with two equally undesirable alternatives.
See also: dilemma, horn, of, on
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
horns of a dilemma, on the
Faced with two equally undesirable alternatives. In Greek logic a lemma was a premise, a matter taken for granted in an argument, whereas a dilemma (a double lemma) was an either/or proposition. The Romans called this an argumentum cornutum, or “horned argument,” because one could be caught on either horn. In the sixteenth century Nicholas Udall, translator of Erasmus, turned it into a horned question: “Because that to whether of both partyes a bodye shall make a direct aunswere, he shall renne on the sharpe poyncte of a horne.” Soon thereafter it began to be called “the horns of a dilemma.”
See also: horn, of, on
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- be on the horns of a dilemma
- the horns of a dilemma
- horns of a dilemma, on the
- on the horns of a dilemma
- in a cleft stick
- be neither one thing nor the other
- any port in a storm
- port
- the armpit of (some place)
- the armpit of somewhere