Word.ws English Dictionary

up a tree

up a tree prepositional phrase: in or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (dated, idiomatic) In or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered.
    • "I'm a bit up a tree, Miss," he said shuffling his feet on the oak floor. "I behaved a fool."1864, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, chapter 53, in Uncle Silas
    • I found the doctor in his study, and the whole room full of rods and lines and reels. . . . When he called me to come and look at his flies I was all up a tree, and didn't know what he was talking about.1891, Laura E. Richards, chapter 14, in Hildegarde's Holiday

up a tree meaning in Bengali and Kannada

up a tree in Bengali

কোনো অসুবিধাজনক, কঠিন পরিস্থিতিতে, বিমুঢ়, কোণঠাসা

up a tree in Kannada

ಸಂಕಟಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿರು

Examples of up a tree in a sentence

  • "You're a liar," says I, a little riled that Idaho should try to put me up a tree.1904, O. Henry, “The Handbook of Hymen”, in Heart of the West:
  • The general consensus of opinion in Outwood's during the luncheon interval was that, having got Downing's up a tree, they would be fools not to make the most of the situation.1909, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 40, in Mike: A Public School Story:

Synonyms of up a tree

Questions about up a tree

What does up a tree mean?
Up a tree means in or into a disadvantaged or difficult situation; at a loss; cornered.
What is up a tree in Bengali?
Up a tree in Bengali is কোনো অসুবিধাজনক, কঠিন পরিস্থিতিতে, বিমুঢ়. See Up a tree meaning in Bengali.
How do you use up a tree in a sentence?
"You're a liar," says I, a little riled that Idaho should try to put me up a tree.
What part of speech is up a tree?
Up a tree is a prepositional phrase.

Words near up a tree in the dictionary

  1. up a creek without a paddle
  2. up a gum tree
  3. up a height
  4. up a storm
  5. up a stump
  6. up a tree
  7. up above
  8. up against
  9. up against it
  10. up against the ropes
  11. up against the wall

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: up a tree (page history and authors); up a tree (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); up a tree (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-up a tree.ogg.

Cite this entry: “up a tree.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/up_a_tree. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.