cleft

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be in a cleft stick

To be in a problematic or difficult situation; to have only undesirable or unfavorable options from which to choose. The image is that of a snake being trapped with a V-shaped end of a stick. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Well, we're in a cleft stick now! Do we start pushing the car towards town, or hope that someone passes by with a can of petrol? With such unlikable candidates, the public is really in a cleft stick. You hate your job, but you can't quit because you have so many bills to pay. Yeah, you're in a cleft stick, mate.

See also: cleft, stick

in a cleft stick

In a problematic or difficult situation; having only undesirable or unfavorable options from which to choose. (From the image of being wedged into a crack in a stick, unable to move.) Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Well, we're caught in a cleft stick now! Do we start pushing the car towards town, or hope that someone passes by with a can of petrol? With such unlikable candidates, the public has been left in a cleft stick. You hate your job, but you can't quit because you have so many bills to pay. Yeah, you're in a cleft stick, mate.

See also: cleft, stick

in a cleft stick

BRITISH, OLD-FASHIONED

If you are in a cleft stick, you are in a difficult situation which you cannot solve easily. I'm in something of a cleft stick — whatever I do, I'll upset someone. Note: This expression may refer to the practice of trapping snakes by holding them down behind the head with a cleft stick (= stick that is Y-shaped at the end).

See also: cleft, stick

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

be (or be caught) in a cleft stick

be in a difficult situation, when any action you take will have adverse consequences. chiefly British

Cleft is one of the forms of the past participle of cleave , in its basic meaning of ‘divide with a cutting blow’ or ‘split’. The other form still current in standard English is cloven , and the two words tend to be used in different contexts: we find a cleft stick and a cleft palate but a cloven hoof .

See also: cleft, stick

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

be (caught) in a cleft ˈstick

(informal) be in a difficult situation when any action you take will have bad results: I was in a cleft stick — my job was boring but I couldn’t move to another firm without losing my company pension.

See also: cleft, stick

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

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References in periodicals archive ?

Children with cleft lips usually undergo a series of surgeries during their childhood - the amount required may depend on the severity of the cleft.

SAVING FACE CLEFT LIP AND PALATE IS; CLEFT LIP AND PALATE IS RELATIVELY COMMON BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS? LIZ CONNOR FINDS OUT MORE

Secondary Cleft Plate###.00###Count###354###750###147###149###102###1502###0.000

Incidence and management of cleft lip and palate in Pakistan

Reconstruction of Congenital Sternal Clefts: Surgical Experience and Literature Review.

Congenital Superior Sternal Cleft Repair Using Primary Closure

The mother or the father can pass on genes that cause clefting, either alone or as part of a genetic syndrome that includes a cleft lip or cleft palate as one of its signs.

100 happy Operation Smile, just what doctor ordered

He explained that there is no reliable known cause for cleft lips and palate, but the environment and genetics, are sometimes attributed as a causative factor.

NGO targets 1000 patients for free cleft-lip surgery in Kwara

This procedure was performed at the same time as surgery to correct the cleft lip (cheiloplasty).

Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Used For Early Repair Of Cleft Palate

Fogh-Anderson [8] reported that siblings of patients with cleft lip and palate have an increased incidence of cleft lip and palate, but not isolated cleft palate; conversely, siblings of patients with cleft palate have an increased frequency of cleft palate but not of cleft lip and palate.

CLINICAL STUDY OF CLEFT LIP AND PALATE AND RARE FACIAL CLEFTS IN UPPER ASSAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH

The medical procedure and speech therapy are life-changing, as having a cleft lip and/or palate can affect a child's ability to speak, eat and breathe.

Miss Universe Ecuador bonds with Filipino cleft patients

"Cleft palates are more common among females, whereas the cleft lip and palate are more common among males."

Operation Smile UAE to change the lives of 24 children

She said it was her pride to continue the mission of her late husband Dr Akhtar Rehman who had devoted whole his life to help the cleft lip and palate patients to have a normal life, getting the ability to speak, eat and hear.

Chinese doctors successfully operate 48 cleft lip patients

The ICLAPA also offers services, such as instructing mothers as how to feed newborns with cleft lips and cleft palate, besides providing speech therapy and dental treatment of patients.

Chinese doctors to conduct surgery of cleft lip patients

She cited the case of a 64-year-old woman in China whose double cleft were closed by surgeons.

Operation Smile to treat 100 oral cleft patients in Davao medical mission

As a part of its CSR initiative, Bajaj Finserv supports Smile Train, the world's largest cleft charity, in treating children born with cleft lips and palates through reconstructive surgeries since the year 2014.

Bajaj Finserv launches an awareness video on Cleft Lip and Palate

Despite ongoing scientific debate on treatment of oro facial clefting, varying treatment schemes and surgical techniques are still being used by different cleft care teams.

PRE-SURGICAL NASOALVEOLAR MOLDING TECHNIQUE USED FOR EARLY TREATMENT IN COMPLETE CLEFT LIP AND PALATE NEONATES; CASE REPORTS

About 1,300 Kenyan babies born every year with cleft palate cannot benefit from the NHIF cover because the condition is congenital.

Babies with lip defects miss out on NHIF cover

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