cliché: back against the wall

Meaning: desperate, with no other options (definition).

Example: In a strange city and her wallet stolen, her back was against the wall.

Origins: expression from fighting. (Also, “back to the wall”). (Source.)

Rewrites:

• back against the bricks
• backside to sheet rock
• face to the fence
• facing six sides of the walls
• penned in by walls, fences, and borders
• no escape but a bottomless pit
• facing a ladder well shy of a climb to the top
• facing a hallway ending in a locked door

Discussion: What other words do you have for “wall” or “back”?