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between the hammer and the anvil. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
between the hammer and the anvil, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
between the hammer and the anvil in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
Referring to the metal on a blacksmith's anvil, which is beaten with a hammer.
Pronunciation
Prepositional phrase
between the hammer and the anvil
- (chiefly UK, idiomatic) With the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.
- Synonyms: between a rock and a hard place, between Scylla and Charybdis, between the devil and the deep blue sea; see also Thesaurus:in a dilemma
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.
1990, Judas Priest, Between The Hammer and the Anvil:The sinner / Will testify / They'll suffer / When sacrificed on high / The burning sermons purge their evil words / Between the hammer and the anvil
Translations
with the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options