English Dictionary

between the hammer and the anvil

prep_phrase

(chiefly UK, idiomatic) With the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.

He felt trapped between the hammer and the anvil.

意味（1）

(chiefly UK, idiomatic) With the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.

Yet for a time the nation was again placed between the democracy of the levellers and the despotism of the Stuarts, — between the hammer and the anvil.