the horns of a dilemma
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
See DILEMMA. To come (or be squeezed) out at the little end of the horn. To come off badly in some affair; get the worst of it ; fail conspicuously.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the horns of a dilemma” mean?
See DILEMMA. To come (or be squeezed) out at the little end of the horn. To come off badly in some affair; get the worst of it ; fail conspicuously.
Is “the horns of a dilemma” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.