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UP A/THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE definition: 1. in a difficult situation, with no way of getting out of it: 2. in a difficult situation, with…. Learn more.
up a/the creek (without a paddle) In deep trouble; in a tight spot. Also put more baldly as up shit creek, this expression is almost certainly of American vintage from the early twentieth century, but the exact origin has been lost. Joseph Heller used it in Catch-22 (1961): “You really are up the creek, Popinjay.”.
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- Examples in Sentences
- Origin
being in trouble.being in a difficult situation.in an unpleasant predicament.in an awkward situation.With no savings, being fired will leave me up the creek without a paddle.If we don’t stop for gas, we might find ourselves up the creek without a paddleif the car were to die.You got yourself up the creek without a paddle, so get out of it.My neighbor owes people money, leaving him up the creek without a paddle.The phrase might have originated from Haslar Creek, found in Portsmouth harbor. During the time of Nelson, wounded sailors would be taken here for admission at the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, founded in 1753, from where they would recover or die. The wounded soldiers and the ships that had moored up in Solent would be taken up the Haslar Creek by ...
Also: Up a Creek Up Shit Creek Meaning of Idiom Up the Creek (Without a Paddle) To be up the creek means to be in trouble, in a serious predicament, or an awkward position. [note]Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.[/note], [note]Kirk
Idiom: up the creek Meaning Idiom: (be) up the creek (without a paddle) / up a creek. in trouble or a difficult situation; Example sentences
up a creek without a paddle. In a difficult situation, without any help. Superlative form of up a creek: most up a creek.
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What does up a creek without a paddle mean?
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What does up the creek mean?
be up the creek without a paddle. be in severe difficulty, usually with no means of extricating yourself from it. informal. Often shortened to be up the creek , this expression is recorded in the mid 20th century as military slang for ‘lost’ (for example, while on a patrol). See also: creek, paddle, up, without.
