If these women were low- or middle-income workers who would be put into a serious financial bind by paying the prevailing rate for legal nannies, I might feel different.

The prosecution had rested its case and had left Nawara in a serious bind.

"If you'd like to help, I think you just might have the special talent it takes to get us out of a serious bind."

"There's also a recognition that the city is still in a serious economic bind, and this is going to be another bad budget year," Mr. Clendenin said.

Even the self-confident Detroit Pistons admit they are in a serious bind.

Such a person is in a serious bind because expressing his anger will drive away or make hostile the very people he is dependent on.

Yet the need to remodel both nuclear and conventional forces puts European governments in a serious bind.

In a much less serious bind, Gov. John G. Rowland of Connecticut recently spun around on the issue, agreeing to an income tax surcharge on incomes over $1 million.

Fed up with leaps of faith and spontaneity, Jen appeared in a serious bind: sick both of love and of minor celebrity culture.

But the loss leaves HomeFed in a serious bind.