"in a cleft stick" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the metaphor of being caught in a tight position, unable to move.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
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      "expansion": "in a cleft stick",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "in a cleft stick",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
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        },
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          "_dis": "79 21",
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          "parents": [
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          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1901–1903, [George] Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1903, →OCLC, Act I, page 11:",
          "text": "Ha! I see. You have got me in a cleft stick.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1964 September 3, H. Fullerton, Letters: Survival of the wild, New Scientist, Volume 23, No. 407, page 579",
          "text": "Such a solution only puts the humanist in a cleft stick by trading the problem of malnutrition for that of over-population."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Attar Chand, Rajiv Gandhi: His Mind and Ideology, page 214:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma."
      ],
      "id": "en-in_a_cleft_stick-en-prep_phrase-fA1kLi7A",
      "links": [
        [
          "dilemma",
          "dilemma"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, British, dated) In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "on the horns of a dilemma"
        },
        {
          "word": "in a dilemma"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "British",
        "dated"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1922, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, Forgotten Books, Easy Reading Series, page 31",
          "text": "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; …"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, cleft, stick."
      ],
      "id": "en-in_a_cleft_stick-en-prep_phrase-L0gX5tHr",
      "links": [
        [
          "in",
          "in#English"
        ],
        [
          "cleft",
          "cleft#English"
        ],
        [
          "stick",
          "stick#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
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  ],
  "word": "in a cleft stick"
}

{
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the metaphor of being caught in a tight position, unable to move.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "in a cleft stick",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "in a cleft stick",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "English dated terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1901–1903, [George] Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1903, →OCLC, Act I, page 11:",
          "text": "Ha! I see. You have got me in a cleft stick.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1964 September 3, H. Fullerton, Letters: Survival of the wild, New Scientist, Volume 23, No. 407, page 579",
          "text": "Such a solution only puts the humanist in a cleft stick by trading the problem of malnutrition for that of over-population."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Attar Chand, Rajiv Gandhi: His Mind and Ideology, page 214:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "dilemma",
          "dilemma"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, British, dated) In a difficult situation, unable to choose between unfavourable options; in a dilemma."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "on the horns of a dilemma"
        },
        {
          "word": "in a dilemma"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "British",
        "dated"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1922, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, Forgotten Books, Easy Reading Series, page 31",
          "text": "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; …"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, cleft, stick."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "in",
          "in#English"
        ],
        [
          "cleft",
          "cleft#English"
        ],
        [
          "stick",
          "stick#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "audio": "EN-AU ck1 in a cleft stick.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/31/EN-AU_ck1_in_a_cleft_stick.ogg/EN-AU_ck1_in_a_cleft_stick.ogg.mp3",
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  "word": "in a cleft stick"
}