"have the wolf by the ear" meaning in All languages combined

{
  "etymology_text": "Initially attributed to Roman Emperor Tiberius circa year 1 AD by biographer C. Suetonius Tranquillus.\nUnited States, 1820, Thomas Jefferson, writing about the institution of slavery and the Missouri Compromise:\n: \"But, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.\"\n:: — Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes (discussing slavery and the Missouri question), Monticello, 22 April 1820",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "has the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "having the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "had the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "had the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "have<has,,had> the wolf by the ear"
      },
      "expansion": "have the wolf by the ear (third-person singular simple present has the wolf by the ear, present participle having the wolf by the ear, simple past and past participle had the wolf by the ear)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be in a dangerous situation from which one cannot disengage, but in which one cannot safely remain."
      ],
      "id": "en-have_the_wolf_by_the_ear-en-verb-oJ6fE9Qv",
      "links": [
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "disengage",
          "disengage"
        ],
        [
          "safely",
          "safely"
        ],
        [
          "remain",
          "remain"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be in a dangerous situation from which one cannot disengage, but in which one cannot safely remain."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "on the horns of a dilemma"
        },
        {
          "word": "have a tiger by the tail"
        },
        {
          "word": "dilemma"
        },
        {
          "word": "difficult situation"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
          "word": "olla kahden tulen välissä"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
          "word": "tenir le loup par les oreilles"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "znajdować się w trudnej sytuacji"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "znaleźć się w trudnej sytuacji"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Missouri Compromise",
        "Thomas Jefferson",
        "Tiberius"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-have the wolf by the ear.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b9/En-au-have_the_wolf_by_the_ear.ogg/En-au-have_the_wolf_by_the_ear.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/En-au-have_the_wolf_by_the_ear.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "have the wolf by the ear"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Initially attributed to Roman Emperor Tiberius circa year 1 AD by biographer C. Suetonius Tranquillus.\nUnited States, 1820, Thomas Jefferson, writing about the institution of slavery and the Missouri Compromise:\n: \"But, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.\"\n:: — Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes (discussing slavery and the Missouri question), Monticello, 22 April 1820",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "has the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "having the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "had the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "had the wolf by the ear",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "have<has,,had> the wolf by the ear"
      },
      "expansion": "have the wolf by the ear (third-person singular simple present has the wolf by the ear, present participle having the wolf by the ear, simple past and past participle had the wolf by the ear)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be in a dangerous situation from which one cannot disengage, but in which one cannot safely remain."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "disengage",
          "disengage"
        ],
        [
          "safely",
          "safely"
        ],
        [
          "remain",
          "remain"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be in a dangerous situation from which one cannot disengage, but in which one cannot safely remain."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "on the horns of a dilemma"
        },
        {
          "word": "have a tiger by the tail"
        },
        {
          "word": "dilemma"
        },
        {
          "word": "difficult situation"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Missouri Compromise",
        "Thomas Jefferson",
        "Tiberius"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-have the wolf by the ear.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b9/En-au-have_the_wolf_by_the_ear.ogg/En-au-have_the_wolf_by_the_ear.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/En-au-have_the_wolf_by_the_ear.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
      "word": "olla kahden tulen välissä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
      "word": "tenir le loup par les oreilles"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "znajdować się w trudnej sytuacji"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to be in a difficult situation",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "znaleźć się w trudnej sytuacji"
    }
  ],
  "word": "have the wolf by the ear"
}