The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dilemma \Di*lem"ma\, n. [L. dilemma, Gr. ?; di- = di`s- twice + ? to take. See Lemma.]
-
(Logic) An argument which presents an antagonist with two or more alternatives, but is equally conclusive against him, whichever alternative he chooses.
Note: The following are instances of the dilemma. A young rhetorician applied to an old sophist to be taught the art of pleading, and bargained for a certain reward to be paid when he should gain a cause. The master sued for his reward, and the scholar endeavored to elude his claim by a dilemma. ``If I gain my cause, I shall withhold your pay, because the judge's award will be against you; if I lose it, I may withhold it, because I shall not yet have gained a cause.'' ``On the contrary,'' says the master, ``if you gain your cause, you must pay me, because you are to pay me when you gain a cause; if you lose it, you must pay me, because the judge will award it.''
--Johnson. -
A state of things in which evils or obstacles present themselves on every side, and it is difficult to determine what course to pursue; a vexatious alternative or predicament; a difficult choice or position.
A strong dilemma in a desperate case! To act with infamy, or quit the place.
--Swift.Horns of a dilemma, alternatives, each of which is equally difficult of encountering.
Usage examples of "horns of a dilemma".
She left the classroom, feeling her bottom pierced by the multiple horns of a dilemma.
He had expected to be put astride the horns of a dilemma, whether to take what she offered or to wait for true love elsewhere.
As was her custom when upon the horns of a dilemma, she walked off by herself among the laurel bushes, and there, standing still and splitting up a leaf without removing it from its stalk, fetched back recollections of Stephen’.
To hoist the problem on to the horns of a dilemma will avail nothing when A = A may be no longer true.