"up a tree" meaning in English

See up a tree in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Audio: En-au-up a tree.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase}} up a tree
  1. (idiomatic, dated) In or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered. Tags: dated, idiomatic Synonyms: over a barrel, perplexed, stumped, up the creek
    Sense id: en-up_a_tree-en-prep_phrase-lMj3h0NH Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "up a tree",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1864, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, chapter 53, in Uncle Silas:",
          "text": "\"I'm a bit up a tree, Miss,\" he said shuffling his feet on the oak floor. \"I behaved a fool.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1891, Laura E. Richards, chapter 14, in Hildegarde's Holiday:",
          "text": "I found the doctor in his study, and the whole room full of rods and lines and reels. . . . When he called me to come and look at his flies I was all up a tree, and didn't know what he was talking about.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1894, Robert Barr, chapter 7, in In the Midst of Alarms:",
          "text": "\"Oh, I'm up a tree again. I see I don't even know the A B C of this business.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1904, O. Henry, “The Handbook of Hymen”, in Heart of the West:",
          "text": "\"You're a liar,\" says I, a little riled that Idaho should try to put me up a tree.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1909, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 40, in Mike: A Public School Story:",
          "text": "The general consensus of opinion in Outwood's during the luncheon interval was that, having got Downing's up a tree, they would be fools not to make the most of the situation.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered."
      ],
      "id": "en-up_a_tree-en-prep_phrase-lMj3h0NH",
      "links": [
        [
          "disadvantage",
          "disadvantage"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
        [
          "at a loss",
          "at a loss"
        ],
        [
          "cornered",
          "cornered"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, dated) In or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "over a barrel"
        },
        {
          "word": "perplexed"
        },
        {
          "word": "stumped"
        },
        {
          "word": "up the creek"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-up a tree.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/dc/En-au-up_a_tree.ogg/En-au-up_a_tree.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/En-au-up_a_tree.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "up a tree"
}
{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "up a tree",
      "name": "head"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1864, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, chapter 53, in Uncle Silas:",
          "text": "\"I'm a bit up a tree, Miss,\" he said shuffling his feet on the oak floor. \"I behaved a fool.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1891, Laura E. Richards, chapter 14, in Hildegarde's Holiday:",
          "text": "I found the doctor in his study, and the whole room full of rods and lines and reels. . . . When he called me to come and look at his flies I was all up a tree, and didn't know what he was talking about.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1894, Robert Barr, chapter 7, in In the Midst of Alarms:",
          "text": "\"Oh, I'm up a tree again. I see I don't even know the A B C of this business.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1904, O. Henry, “The Handbook of Hymen”, in Heart of the West:",
          "text": "\"You're a liar,\" says I, a little riled that Idaho should try to put me up a tree.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1909, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 40, in Mike: A Public School Story:",
          "text": "The general consensus of opinion in Outwood's during the luncheon interval was that, having got Downing's up a tree, they would be fools not to make the most of the situation.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "disadvantage",
          "disadvantage"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
        [
          "at a loss",
          "at a loss"
        ],
        [
          "cornered",
          "cornered"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, dated) In or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-up a tree.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/dc/En-au-up_a_tree.ogg/En-au-up_a_tree.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/En-au-up_a_tree.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "over a barrel"
    },
    {
      "word": "perplexed"
    },
    {
      "word": "stumped"
    },
    {
      "word": "up the creek"
    }
  ],
  "word": "up a tree"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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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