mettre quelqu’un au pied du mur

The French expression “mettre quelqu’un au pied du mur” translates literally to “to put somebody at the foot of the wall”. This expression is almost the same in English:

• to have somebody up against a wall

A French meaning of this expression is “enlever toute échappatoire à quelqu’un” or to remove all ways-out or loop-holes from somebody. A synonymous verb for this expression is “acculer”, which means to corner.

Here’s an example sentence:

Après la déposition des témoins, le criminel présumé a ete mis au pied du mur. After the witness statements the alleged criminal was up against a wall.

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