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Learn the meaning and usage of the informal idiom up a/the creek without a paddle, which means being in a difficult situation with no way out. See examples, synonyms and related words.
- English (US)
UP A/THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE meaning: 1. in a difficult...
- Polski
up a/the creek without a paddle definicja: 1. in a difficult...
- River
UP (THE) RIVER definition: 1. in the opposite direction to...
- Up and About
UP AND ABOUT definition: infml feeling well enough to get...
- Cambridge English Dictionary에서의 의미
up a/the creek without a paddle 의미, 정의, up a/the creek...
- Up and Down
UP AND DOWN definition: 1. sometimes happy and sometimes...
- English (US)
In trouble, in a serious predicament, as in If the check doesn't arrive today I'm up a creek, or The car wouldn't start, so I was up the creek without a paddle. This slangy idiom conjures up the image of a stranded canoeist with no way of moving (paddling) the canoe.
- Usage
- Examples of Use
- Origin
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The original form of this idiom is up the creek. Up the creek without a paddle is a slightly humorous and intensified variant of the idiom.
“If my check doesn’t come by tomorrow I’ll be up the creek. The rent is due on Friday.” “My car broke down in the middle of nowhere and my phone had no signal. I was up the creek without a paddle.”
Used since the late-1800s, this idiom is said to have its origin in military slang, referring to being lost, as in when on patrol, etc., calling to mind someone in a canoe being stranded in a river with no way to paddle. 4Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010. The vulgar variant up shit creek intensifies the expres...
Learn the meaning, usage, and origin of the idiom up the creek (without a paddle), which means to be in trouble or in a difficult situation. See examples, synonyms, and related idioms.
Learn the meaning and usage of the idiom "up the creek" or "up a creek without a paddle", which means to be in trouble or a difficult situation. See example sentences and synonyms for this expression.
Learn the meaning and origin of the idiom "up a creek without a paddle", which means being in trouble or in a difficult situation. Find out how this phrase relates to wounded sailors, a naval hospital, and a creek in England.
be up a/the creek (without a paddle) slang To be in a challenging or troublesome situation, especially one that cannot be easily resolved. I have no savings, so if I get fired from my job, I'll be up the creek without a paddle.
in a difficult situation: If any more people resign, we'll be really up the creek. He doesn't have a computer and without the library he would be up a creek. I had absolutely no money and I was up shit creek. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Experiencing difficulties.
