Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

paint oneself into a corner

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

Etymology:

  • From the idea that a person painting the floor of a room may inadvertently apply the paint everywhere except the corner that the person is standing in, so that to leave the room the person has no choice but to step on the freshly painted floor and damage it.
100 Views
Collection   Edit    

Submitted on September 01, 2009

Translation

Find a translation for the paint oneself into a corner phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to paint oneself into a corner

make an exhibition of oneselfplough intomake oneself at homemake a pig of oneselfpitch intoout of the frying pan, into the fireplay into someone's handspaint your back door red!make a fool of oneselfpour honey into one's earmake intoplough intopaint outmake a spectacle of oneself

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this paint oneself into a corner phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this paint oneself into a corner definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "paint oneself into a corner." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 Apr. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/paint-oneself-into-a-corner_5991>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    I wouldn't eat that; better safe than _______.
    A sorry
    B worried
    C at risk
    D hungry

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ