have the wolf by the ear
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To have a problem or situation under control but with difficulty
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
kiểm soát vấn đề hoặc tình huống nhưng với khó khăn
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: holding a dangerous animal
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He has the wolf by the ear with his new business venture
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “have the wolf by the ear” mean?
To have a problem or situation under control but with difficulty Literally: holding a dangerous animal
Is “have the wolf by the ear” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.