An instance of need; a strait or difficulty. Obsolete.

? A state of suspense; a critical position; an awkward affair.

The condition of being hard pressed; a position of difficulty, trouble, or danger; a critical situation; straits, distress, tribulation. Now rare…

An instance of need.

A difficulty, a plight; = brike, n.

A difficulty, a dilemma; a trap. Cf. brigue, n. 2.

Peril, danger, or risk; (also) a struggle or battle. Obsolete.

Condition, situation, state (almost always in negative sense); a plight. Chiefly in in (a) taking, often with qualifying adjective. Cf. take, v. 4…

A state, condition, plight, predicament. Obsolete.

A strait or difficult situation.

A cage of iron or wooden bars; a trap; figurative a snare, difficulty, dilemma. Obsolete.

figurative. colloquial. A state of discomfort, difficulty, or painful uncertainty; disgrace, trouble. Chiefly in in hot water.

figurative. A narrow or tight place, a time of sore need or of awkward or straitened circumstances, a difficulty or fix. Now rare in singular…

plural. Extremities, straits, hardships. Obsolete.

A (usually disagreeable) condition or situation; a plight, a predicament. Now colloquial.

A situation or condition resembling in some way that of a person who has incurred a praemunire; a difficulty, predicament. In later use regional. Now…

A tight grip on a person, esp. (Wrestling) a hold on a particular limb or part of the body, used to restrain another person or prevent him or her…

With plural agreement. Narrow, constricted, or confined places; straits (literal and figurative); constraints; difficulties.

A difficult, awkward, or problematic situation. Frequently in in difficulties: in trouble, spec. (originally euphemistic) experiencing financial…

An embarrassing or awkward predicament or situation, usually one into which a person is brought by his own imprudence and thoughtlessness.

A difficulty, a scrape, a predicament; = praemunire, n. 3.

figurative. A position from which it is difficult to escape; a fix, scrape, mess.

an imaginary street where people in difficulties (esp. financial ones) are supposed to reside; (hence) the fact of being in a difficult position…

figurative. Cf. hot water, n. 1b. Obsolete.

The action of striving; an instance of this; also, contention, strife.

(originally U.S.) A position from which it is difficult to escape, a ‘tight place’; a difficulty, dilemma, predicament. Also, condition, state…

An awkward or distressing situation; a predicament.

A stumble or trip. Frequently figurative, a slip in conduct; a fault or error; a scrape or difficulty.

An extremely difficult or challenging situation; a predicament; a nonplus. Frequently in at (also in) an amplush: at a loss; uncertain as to how to…

a position which compels a person to act or appear in a manner inconsistent with his real character or aims.

A difficult situation, a predicament. (In quot. 1851, = ‘(tight) squeeze’.) Cf. double bind n. at double, adj.1 adv.compounds 1. colloquial…

North American colloquial. A difficult or awkward situation; a dilemma, a predicament, a mess. Frequently in to get into a jackpot.

An awkward situation, predicament, ‘tight corner’ (A. 9). Usually in in a tight; occasionally const. for. U.S. dialect or colloquial.

colloquial. A difficult situation.

The tight squeezing of one or more movable parts of a machine into or against another part so that they cannot move; the blocking or stopping of a…