up a gum tree
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Into a predicament.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
It all went wrong when they discovered something up a gum - tree in Malaysia and called it gutta - percha.
Mr Sylvester is up a gum tree.’
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “up a gum tree” mean?
Into a predicament.
Is “up a gum tree” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.