hemmed in
Surrounded, no exit
Hemmed in means surrounded or confined, unable to move freely or escape.
The phrase extends from the literal sense of hem—to create a border—into figurative constraint: The army was hemmed in on three sides.
It often suggests feeling trapped by circumstances: She felt hemmed in by her responsibilities.
- trappedUnable to escape
- boxed inConfined without options
- boxed upPlaced in cartons
- cagedConfined by bars
- penned inConfined within barriers
backed into a corner · confined · cornered · enclosed · walled in · immured · besieged · surrounded · beset · constrained · encircled · stifled · can't breathe · circumscribed · ensnared · encased · barricaded · imprisoned
- crowdedcrowded, jam-packed, packed like sardines, crammed, jammed
- expressions about containmentboxed in, bottled up, penned in, locked in, shut in
- predicamentspredicament, dilemma, bind, pickle, pinch
- Sewing Metaphorsseamless, threadbare, woven, patched up, hanging by a thread
- stuckjammed, clogged, trapped, stuck in mud, snowed in
- tight spotstight spot, corner, trapped, stuck, boxed in
hemmed inunconfined
Not restricted or contained
free · unenclosed · in the open · at large · unrestricted
hemmed infree
Without payment or restriction
liberated · unconstrained · unencumbered · unfettered · unshackled
hemmed inunconstrained
Having no restrictions
untrapped · in control · holding all the cards · unboxed · unbesieged