"put a gun to someone's head" meaning in All languages combined

See put a gun to someone's head on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-put a gun to someone's head.ogg Forms: puts a gun to someone's head [present, singular, third-person], putting a gun to someone's head [participle, present], put a gun to someone's head [participle, past], put a gun to someone's head [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|put<,,put> a gun to someone's head}} put a gun to someone's head (third-person singular simple present puts a gun to someone's head, present participle putting a gun to someone's head, simple past and past participle put a gun to someone's head)
  1. (idiomatic) To compel someone (to do something); to create a situation in which someone has no alternative course of action. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: hold a gun to someone's head Translations (Translations): het mes op de keel zetten (Dutch), laittaa ase jonkun ohimolle (Finnish), mettre le couteau sous la gorge (French), das Messer an die Kehle setzen (German), przystawiać broń do skroni [imperfective] (Polish), przystawić broń do skroni [perfective] (Polish), stawiać pod ścianą [imperfective] (Polish), postawić pod ścianą [perfective] (Polish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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    {
      "form": "puts a gun to someone's head",
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        {
          "ref": "1988 February 28, “The Region: D'Amato Strays, Willfully, From New York Party Line”, in New York Times, retrieved 2018-11-27:",
          "text": "Richard Rosenbaum had deferred to Mr. D'Amato in leading the Dole effort in the state, but Mr. D'Amato delayed organizing it until, as Westchester County legislator Tim Carey put it, \"Dole put a gun to his head.\"",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2004 September 23, Carol D. Leonnig, “Tobacco Industry Admits Mistakes”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2018-11-27:",
          "text": "\"[T]o say the industry hasn't changed is to ignore reality,\" Yerrid said. \"Now, they changed because we put a gun to their head, not because they're nice people and wanted to change.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 December 21, Rebecca Smith, “Gordon Brown 'to force GPs to work evenings'”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2018-11-27:",
          "text": "\"They have effectively put a gun to our head and said if we don't accept their proposal they will impose a more Draconian contract.\"",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2013 January 6, Peter Mandelson, “Cameron's absurd behaviour over EU membership”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2018-11-27:",
          "text": "The prime minister . . . will be disappointed if he thinks he can put a gun to their heads to begin renegotiating Britain's EU membership and then dictate when it will end.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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        "To compel someone (to do something); to create a situation in which someone has no alternative course of action."
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        "(idiomatic) To compel someone (to do something); to create a situation in which someone has no alternative course of action."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hold a gun to someone's head"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
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      ],
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        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "het mes op de keel zetten"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "laittaa ase jonkun ohimolle"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "mettre le couteau sous la gorge"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "das Messer an die Kehle setzen"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
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          "word": "przystawiać broń do skroni"
        },
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          "tags": [
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    {
      "form": "put a gun to someone's head",
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      "form": "put a gun to someone's head",
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          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2007 December 21, Rebecca Smith, “Gordon Brown 'to force GPs to work evenings'”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2018-11-27:",
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          "ref": "2013 January 6, Peter Mandelson, “Cameron's absurd behaviour over EU membership”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2018-11-27:",
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        "(idiomatic) To compel someone (to do something); to create a situation in which someone has no alternative course of action."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
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    }
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      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "het mes op de keel zetten"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "laittaa ase jonkun ohimolle"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "mettre le couteau sous la gorge"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "das Messer an die Kehle setzen"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "przystawiać broń do skroni"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "przystawić broń do skroni"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "stawiać pod ścianą"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "postawić pod ścianą"
    }
  ],
  "word": "put a gun to someone's head"
}

Download raw JSONL data for put a gun to someone's head meaning in All languages combined (4.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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