be tied (up) in knots



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be tied (up) in knots

To be confused, anxious, worried, and/or upset (about something). I've been tied up in knots trying to come up with a good topic for my term paper, but I just can't think of anything! James is tied in knots over how to break up with Daniel, but I think he just needs to bite the bullet and just do it.
See also: knot, tie

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
SimonSIE-mən (English), see-MAWN (French), ZEE-mawn (German), SEE-mawn (Dutch)English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovene, Romanian, Macedonian
Elita-Latvian
Jimmie['dʒimi]
SzymonSHI-mawnPolish
Vester-Danish
Vasile-Romanian