English Reference

Idiom

box oneself into a corner

Meaning

To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples

“By lying to my boss, I have boxed myself into a corner.”

“He made so many conflicting promises during the negotiation that he eventually boxed himself into a corner with no room to compromise.”

“The politician boxed himself into a corner by taking such an extreme public stance, leaving him with no graceful way to support the new compromise legislation.”

Examples

simple

“By lying to my boss, I have boxed myself into a corner.”

contextual

“He made so many conflicting promises during the negotiation that he eventually boxed himself into a corner with no room to compromise.”

complex

“The politician boxed himself into a corner by taking such an extreme public stance, leaving him with no graceful way to support the new compromise legislation.”

Key words

Related idioms

This entry

Updated
English Reference