cornered
Backed against walls
Cornered describes being trapped or forced into a position with no escape.
A cornered animal is most dangerous because it has nowhere to flee.
Someone cornered in an argument has no good response left.
To have something cornered—or to corner the market—is to control it completely, leaving others no access.
Caught by trickery
- cagedConfined by bars
- confinedKept within bounds
- imprisonedHeld in custody
- capturedTaken by force
stuck · hemmed · penned · boxed-in · dead-end · cut-off · surrounded · encircled
Surprise strike from concealment
- waylayIntercept to confront
- bushwhackSurprise attack from cover
- surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
- pounceSudden attack leap
intercepted · caught-off-guard · blindsided · waylaid · jumped · attacked · assailed · stalked
Wary and restrained
- waryGuardedly alert
- evasiveAvoiding direct response
- deflectingTurning from original path
- resistantWithstanding external forces
protective · bristling · hostile · combative · fight-or-flight · reactive · desperate · panicked
Pressured into compliance
- intimidatedMade fearful by threat
- bulliedRepeatedly mistreated by aggressors
- harassedPersistently tormented
- confrontedChallenged or opposed directly
grilled · interrogated · badgered · hounded · pressed · pushed · forced · compelled
ensnared
Caught by trickery
- cagedConfined by bars
- confinedKept within bounds
- imprisonedHeld in custody
captured · stuck · hemmed · penned · boxed-in · dead-end · cut-off · surrounded · encircled · blocked
ambush
Surprise strike from concealment
- waylayIntercept to confront
- bushwhackSurprise attack from cover
- surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
pounce · intercepted · caught-off-guard · blindsided · waylaid · jumped · attacked · assailed · stalked · hunted
guarded
Wary and restrained
- waryGuardedly alert
- evasiveAvoiding direct response
- deflectingTurning from original path
resistant · protective · bristling · hostile · combative · fight-or-flight · reactive · desperate · panicked · agitated
coerced
Pressured into compliance
- intimidatedMade fearful by threat
- bulliedRepeatedly mistreated by aggressors
- harassedPersistently tormented
confronted · grilled · interrogated · badgered · hounded · pressed · pushed · forced · compelled · squeezed
angled
Turned from perpendicular
alcove · recess · wedged · tucked · cranny · vertex · edge · junction · right-angle · bend
ringside
Seats nearest the bout
bucket · towel · trainer · seconds · bell · rest · instructions · strategy · water · advice
- expressions about containmentboxed in, bottled up, hemmed in, penned in, locked in
- predicamentspredicament, dilemma, bind, pickle, pinch
- chasespursuit, chase, flee, fleeing, escape
- impassesimpasse, deadlock, stalemate, standstill, gridlock
- Manhuntfugitive, manhunt, wanted poster, most wanted, pursuit
- stuckjammed, clogged, trapped, stuck in mud, snowed in
corneredin control
Managing with authority
holding all the cards · advantaged · dominant · calling the shots · in the driver's seat
- around the cornerVery close in time/space
- cut cornersReduce effort or cost improperly
- cutting cornersReducing effort improperly
- street cornerWhere two roads intersect
- turn a cornerChange trajectory at intersection
- just around the cornerVery close temporally
corner, cornerstone, corners, cornering, cornerwise, street corner