"up the creek" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "American English.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "up a creek",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "up a creek without a paddle",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "up the creek without a paddle",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "up the creek",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "up the creek",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "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"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We'll be up the creek if we lose those files, so we should back them up regularly.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 3rd section, page 306:",
          "text": "“Then we would be up the creek. You can be extradited for grand larceny. Jez you wouldnt^([sic]) have me goin^([sic]) round with dark glasses and false whiskers all my life.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In trouble; in a difficult situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-up_the_creek-en-prep_phrase-3xZYy6D4",
      "links": [
        [
          "In trouble",
          "in trouble"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In trouble; in a difficult situation."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "difficult situation"
        },
        {
          "word": "up shit creek"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-up the creek.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/dc/En-au-up_the_creek.ogg/En-au-up_the_creek.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/En-au-up_the_creek.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "up the creek"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "American English.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "up a creek",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "up a creek without a paddle",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "up the creek without a paddle",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "up the creek",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "up the creek",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We'll be up the creek if we lose those files, so we should back them up regularly.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 3rd section, page 306:",
          "text": "“Then we would be up the creek. You can be extradited for grand larceny. Jez you wouldnt^([sic]) have me goin^([sic]) round with dark glasses and false whiskers all my life.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In trouble; in a difficult situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "In trouble",
          "in trouble"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In trouble; in a difficult situation."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "difficult situation"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-up the creek.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/dc/En-au-up_the_creek.ogg/En-au-up_the_creek.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/En-au-up_the_creek.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "up shit creek"
    }
  ],
  "word": "up the creek"
}