box oneself into a corner

present singular third person boxes oneself into a corner · participle present boxing oneself into a corner · participle past boxed oneself into a corner · past boxed oneself into a corner

1. idiomaticTo create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions.

   1 more example

   Brüno was a case of diminishing returns, intermittently amusing but not nearly as bracing or funny as Borat—it didn’t help that Brüno was the most thinly conceived of all his Da Ali G Show characters—and the lead-up to Baron Cohen’s new comedy, The Dictator, made it look like he’d boxed himself into a corner.

   2012 May 15, Scott Tobias, “Film: Reviews: The Dictator”, in The Onion AV Club

   Synonyms: back oneself into a corner, paint oneself into a corner, write oneself into a corner