on (one's) beam-ends

In a precarious and/or desperate situation. The phrase was originally used to describe the tilted position of a ship before it capsizes. My sister's on her beam-ends now that she's lost her job—I might have to lend her some money so she doesn't lose her house. Tell me the truth, doc—am I on my beam-ends, or do I still have treatment options available?

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Mikel	-	Basque
Firuzeh	-	Persian
Zakiyya	-	Arabic
ÅSe	AW-se (Swedish)	Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Ursula	['ə:sjulə]
Regina	rə-JEEN-ə (English), rə-GEEN-ə (English), rə-JIEN-ə (English), re-GEE-nah (German, Polish), re-JEE-nah (Italian), RE-gee-naw (Hungarian)	English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Swedish, Norweg