ride the tiger

Definitions

To maintain control over something aggressive and dangerous.

idiomatic

Examples

“The Germans had ridden the tiger of Islamic rage and resentment a long way – across the Red Sea into Eritrea and Somalia, into the inner sanctum of the Arabian desert, then winding through Mesopotamia, Persia and Afghanistan […]”

“He has ridden the tiger with some skill. But the tiger is growing up slowly and Cambodia will find⟳ it more and more difficult to follow⟳ Communist policies abroad while keeping Communism down at home.”

“You can’t ride⟳ the tiger. That’s the lesson here: once populism has grasped the levers of power, even the richest man in the world cannot be sure of exploiting it for his own⟳ ends, or imposing his own⟳ agenda on the chaos.”

CEFR level