He has the wolf by the ear and cannot leave.
have the wolf by the ear
idiomTo be in a dangerous situation from which one cannot disengage, but in which one cannot safely remain.
Origin
first recorded 19th c.Initially attributed to Roman Emperor Tiberius circa year 1 AD by biographer C. Suetonius Tranquillus. United States, 1820, Thomas Jefferson, writing about the institution of slavery and the Missouri Compromise: : "But, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other." :: — Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes (discussing slavery and the Missouri question), Monticello, 22 April 1820
The manager has the wolf by the ear, as firing the employee will cause a strike, but keeping him is ruining the team.
Caught between a failing economy and the threat of civil unrest, the government finds itself with the wolf by the ear, unable to retreat or advance without risking catastrophe.
- 01
bend someone's ear
To bore; to talk too long, especially to one particular person.
- 02
cry wolf
To raise a false alarm; to constantly warn others about an imagined threat, thereby failing to get assistance when a real threat appears.
- 03
ear to the ground
The practice or characteristic of carefully gathering information; a state or mindset of attentiveness.
- 04
ear tunnel
A round piece of jewelry with a hole in the middle, which fits into a stretched earlobe.
- 05
flea in one's ear
A stinging rebuke or rebuff.
- 06
give ear
To listen: to devote one's attention to an auditory event.
- 07
go in one ear and out the other
To be heard but not attended to, when a person fails to pay attention.
- 08
have a word in someone's ear
To speak to someone in private.