| Main Entry: | pickle |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | sticky situation |
Synonyms: |
bind, box*, corner*, difficulty, dilemma, disorder, fix, hole*, hot water, jam*, predicament, quandary, scrape, spot*, tight spot |
Antonyms: |
boon, pleasure |
| Main Entry: | pickle |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | preserve fruit or vegetable |
Synonyms: |
can, cure, keep, marinade, salt, souse, steep |
| Main Entry: | arrest |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | taking into custody |
Synonyms: |
accommodation, apprehension, appropriation, bag*, booby trap, bust, captivity, capture, collar, commitment, confinement, constraint, crimp, detention, drop*, fall*, gaff, glom, grab*, heat*, hook*, imprisonment, incarceration, jailing, mitt, nab, nail, nick, nip, pick up*, pickle, pinch*, preventive custody, protective custody, pull in, pull*, restraining, run in, sequestering, snare, sweep* |
| Main Entry: | bind |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | predicament |
Synonyms: |
between a rock and a hard place, crunch, difficulty, dilemma, hot water, no-win situation, nuisance, pickle, predicament, quandary, sticky situation, tight situation, tight spot |
| Main Entry: | corner |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | predicament |
Synonyms: |
box, difficulty, dilemma, distress, fix, hole, impasse, impediment, jam, knot, pickle, plight, scrape, tight spot |
| Main Entry: | crisis |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | critical situation |
Synonyms: |
big trouble, catastrophe, change, climacteric, climax, confrontation, contingency, corner, crossroad, crunch, crux, culmination, deadlock, dilemma, dire straits, disaster, embarrassment, emergency, entanglement, exigency, extremity, height, hot potato, hour of decision, imbroglio, impasse, juncture, mess, moment of truth, necessity, pass, perplexity, pickle, pinch*, plight, point of no return, predicament, pressure, puzzle, quandary, situation, stew, strait, trauma, trial, trouble, turning point, urgency |
Antonyms: |
calm, peace |
| Main Entry: | cure |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cook, age food |
Synonyms: |
dry, fire, harden, keep, kipper, pickle, preserve, salt, smoke, steel, temper |
| Main Entry: | deadlock |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | stalemate, impasse |
Synonyms: |
Catch-22, box*, cessation, checkmate, corner, dead end, dead heat, dilemma, draw, full stop, gridlock, halt, hole, pause, pickle, plight, posture, predicament, quandary, standoff, standstill, tie, wall* |
| Notes: | stalemate does not end - it is the outcome (stale in stalemate is from Anglo-Norman meaning 'be placed'); a standoff or deadlock can end |
Antonyms: |
agreement, breakthrough |
| Main Entry: | difficulty |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | problem; situation requiring great effort |
Synonyms: |
adversity, arduousness, awkwardness, barricade, check, complication, crisis, crux, dead end, deadlock, deep water, dilemma, distress, emergency, exigency, fix*, frustration, hardship, hazard, hindrance, hitch*, hot water, impasse, knot*, labor, laboriousness, mess, misfortune, muddle, obstacle, obstruction, pain, painfulness, paradox, perplexity, pickle, predicament, quagmire, quandary, scrape*, snag*, stew, strain, strait, strenuousness, struggle, stumbling block, tribulation, trouble |
Antonyms: |
calm, ease, felicity, peace, tranquility |
| Main Entry: | difficulty |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | mental burden |
Synonyms: |
ado, aggravation, annoyance, anxiety, bafflement, bother, care, charge, complication, crisis, depression, discouragement, distress, embarrassment, emergency, exigency, frustration, grievance, hangup, harassment, imbroglio, inconvenience, irritation, jam, maze, mess, millstone, misery, oppression, perplexity, pickle, pinch, predicament, pressure, puzzle, quandary, ramification, responsibility, scrape*, setback, strain, strait, stress, strife, struggle, to-do, trouble, vicissitude, weight, worry |
Antonyms: |
calmness, contentment, peace, pleasure, satisfaction |