as in dilemma
a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape
shoreline residents are finding themselves helplessly falling down a rabbit hole in their Sisyphean efforts to halt beach erosion
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rabbit hole
Of course, not everyone who had these concerns went down the Q rabbit hole.
—
Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 31 Jan. 2025
But the quest for knowledge took me down a warm and wonderful rabbit hole for this, the last in our National Soup Month series for 2025 (and on a day that began with 40 degree temps, yikes!).
—Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2025
To foster more civic engagement, journalists will need to do a better job of reaching groups that are tuning out the mainstream press and falling into rabbit holes of misleading online commentary.
—John Delury, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2025
By Annie Blackman Keke Palmer Reacts to TikTok Trends
Keke Palmer goes down the TikTok rabbit hole to check out some popular trends!
—Annie Blackman, Allure, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rabbit hole
Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 31 Jan. 2025
But the quest for knowledge took me down a warm and wonderful rabbit hole for this, the last in our National Soup Month series for 2025 (and on a day that began with 40 degree temps, yikes!).
—Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2025
To foster more civic engagement, journalists will need to do a better job of reaching groups that are tuning out the mainstream press and falling into rabbit holes of misleading online commentary.
—John Delury, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2025
By Annie Blackman Keke Palmer Reacts to TikTok Trends
Keke Palmer goes down the TikTok rabbit hole to check out some popular trends!
—Annie Blackman, Allure, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rabbit hole
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rabbit hole
Noun
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Ben Colman, co-founder and CEO of Reality Defender, a company specializing in deepfake detection, weighed in on the designer's dilemma.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
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The political dilemma facing Trump and the Republicans is one that an earlier generation of conservative revolutionaries faced forty-odd years ago.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Now, there are clearly two ways out of this predicament for Leeds United.—
Jordan Campbell,
The Athletic,
26 Feb. 2025
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Is there a way out of our divided country’s seemingly hopeless predicament?—
Jackie Strause,
The Hollywood Reporter,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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New foods include chicken bacon ranch waffle stick, pickle juice lemonade, flaming hot chili mac dog and more.—
Shafaq Patel,
Axios,
28 Feb. 2025
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Fact checked by Sarah Scott Think a hankering for pickle juice is just a weird pregnancy quirk?—
Hannah Silverman,
Parents,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The second-deepest hole, the German Continental Deep Drilling Programme, stretches 5.6 miles.—
Brent Crane,
The New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2025
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Cracks and ridges in the ice constantly shifted the route to a permanent hole in the ice, named Ocean City, from which Hoppe and her team gathered hundreds of liters of seawater samples and hauled them back to the ship for analysis.—
Asher Elbein,
WIRED,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The number can fluctuate and still be manipulated if the team opts to restructure other players’ current contracts, which could grant Miami more room to operate in the short term but put the Dolphins in a bigger bind, piling on salary cap obligations in future seasons.—
David Furones,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Mar. 2025
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That’s why Republicans find themselves in such a bind: Medicaid is really popular these days and most Americans — even Republicans living in red states — don’t want to lose it.—
Dylan Scott,
Vox,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Efforts to create an EU presidency also floundered in a swamp of competing power centers and polysyllabic titles.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
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The video was recorded by writer and film producer Jennifer Berglund of Savannah, who reported another alligator appeared to pursue the male through the swamp after his display, officials said.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Spring is just around the corner, and some of today’s biggest music stars are celebrating the imminent warm weather with seriously hot new releases.—
Rania Aniftos,
Billboard,
28 Feb. 2025
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Spring might be right around the corner, but the winter respiratory viruses—including flu, COVID-19, and RSV—are still going strong, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
Stephanie Anderson Witmer,
Health,
28 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rabbit hole.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rabbit%20hole. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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