in a cleft stick

prepositional phrase

In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma.

Similar
on the horns of a dilemmabetween a rock and a hard placebetween Scylla and Charybdisbetween the devil and the deep blue seabetween the hammer and the anvilbetween two firesdamned if one does and damned if one doesn'tdoomed if you do
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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. AustraliaUKdatedIn a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma.

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

    1901–1903, [George] Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman. […], Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1903, →OCLC, Act I, page 11
    2 more examples

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

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

    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.

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

    Synonyms: on the horns of a dilemma, between a rock and a hard place, between Scylla and Charybdis, between the devil and the deep blue sea, between the hammer and the anvil, between two fires, damned if one does and damned if one doesn't, doomed if you do

  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, cleft, stick.

    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; …

    1922, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, Forgotten Books, Easy Reading Series, page 31

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositional phraseIn a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma.

Similar
on the horns of a dilemmabetween a rock and a hard placebetween Scylla and Charybdisbetween the devil and the deep blue seabetween the hammer and the anvilbetween two firesdamned if one does and damned if one doesn'tdoomed if you dodoomed if you don'tin bad breadon the horns of a dilemma
Also see
between a rock and a hard placebetween scylla and charybdisbetween the devil and the deep blue seabetween the hammer and the anvilin bad breadon the horns of a dilemma

Origin

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

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

in a cleft stick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20cleft%20stick

MLA

“in a cleft stick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20cleft%20stick. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in a cleft stick,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20cleft%20stick.

Source: in a cleft stick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.