be in dire straits

To be in a very bleak or grim situation. All of those recent layoffs indicate that the company is in dire straits. I was in dire straits there for a while, but I'm feeling much better after my hospital stay. I'm in dire straits, Dave. I gambled away our mortgage money at the casino—what am I going to do?

See also: dire, strait

desperate straits

An especially difficult, bleak, or grim situation. The recent nosedive in the stock market has left many companies in desperate straits. Long-term unemployment and health issues drive many people to desperate straits in this part of the country. With his job gone and debt mounting, John has been in desperate straits. I really don't know how he'll be able to keep his home.

dire straits

An especially bleak, grim, or difficult situation. The recent nosedive in the stock market has left many companies in dire straits in recent years. Long-term unemployment and health issues drive many people to dire straits in this part of the country. I'm in dire straits, Dave. I gambled away our mortgage money at the casino—what am I going to do?

See also: dire, strait

in desperate straits

In an especially difficult, bleak, or grim situation. The recent nosedive in the stock market has left many companies in desperate straits. I was in desperate straits there for a while, but I'm feeling much better after my hospital stay. With his job gone and debt mounting, John has been in desperate straits. I really don't know how he'll be able to keep his home.

in dire straits

In a very bleak or grim situation. The recent nosedive in the stock market has left many companies in dire straits. I was in dire straits there for a while, but I'm feeling much better after my hospital stay. With his job gone and debt mounting, John has been in dire straits. I really don't know how he'll be able to keep his home.

See also: dire, strait

let's get this straight

1. Let me make sure I have a clear understanding of the topic of discussion. A: "Let's get this straight—you expect me to do whatever you say, no questions asked?" B: "Yes, that's right. That's how you'll earn that big paycheck I've offered you."

2. Let's clear up any possible confusion, misunderstanding, or uncertainty (about something); let me make this perfectly clear. Before we get into this debate, let's get this straight—we are to focus solely on the topic at hand, so no deviating into unrelated subjects. Let's get this straight. I am the boss, and you are the employee, which means that when I ask you to do one thing, you're expected to do it.

strait-laced

Excessively strict in one's manners or moral conduct; prudish. I was really strait-laced in high school, never doing anything against the rules. I think his unruly behavior is a kind of rebellion against his strait-laced parents.

in dire straits

Fig. in a very serious, bad circumstance. We are nearly broke and need money for medicine. We are in dire straits.

See also: dire, strait

desperate straits

A very difficult situation. The noun “strait,” usually in the plural (straits), has been used since the 1600s to mean a dilemma of some kind. One of the earliest pairings with “desperate” was in Harriet Martineau’s The History of England during the Thirty Years’ Peace (1849): “Never were Whig rulers reduced to more desperate straits.” Today the term is used both seriously and ironically, as in “We’re in desperate straits today—the newspaper never arrived.”

dire straits, in

In an awful situation, terrible circumstances. The adjective “dire,” which dates from the mid-1500s, is rarely heard today except in this cliché and one other phrase, dire necessity, which uses it more or less hyperbolically (as, for example, in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 1836 letter, “The dire necessity of having every window in the house open . . .”). In contrast, the cliché describes a genuine difficulty or danger, as in “The stock-market crash left him in dire straits financially.” Also the name of a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995.