between the hammer and the anvil

English

Etymology

Referring to the metal on a blacksmith's anvil, which is beaten with a hammer.

Prepositional phrase

between the hammer and the anvil

1. (idiomatic) With the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.
   • 1848, Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné, The Protector, a vindication (page 250)

     Yet for a time the nation was again placed between the democracy of the levellers and the despotism of the Stuarts, — between the hammer and the anvil.

Synonyms

• between a rock and a hard place

Translations

with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options

• Arabic: بين المطرفة و السندان (ar)
• Bulgarian: между чука и наковалнята (bg) (meždu čuka i nakovalnjata)

• French: entre le marteau et l'enclume (fr)
• Greek: μεταξύ σφύρας και άκμονος (el) (metaxý sfýras kai ákmonos)
• Polish: między młotem a kowadłem (pl)