under the gun

under the gun idiom
Under pressure to solve a problem or meet a deadline, as in The reporter was under the gun for that article on taxes. This idiom alludes to a gun being pointed at a person to force him or her to act. [Colloquial; c. 1900]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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