bind broken fortune close call close shave close squeak closeness clutch complication confinement crowdedness crunch cubby cubbyhole difficulties distress doghouse embarrassing position embarrassment fine how-do-you-do genteel poverty hair hairbreadth hairbreadth escape hairsbreadth hard pinch hardship hell to pay hobble hole hot water how-do-you-do imbroglio impecuniosity impecuniousness incapaciousness incommodiousness insolvency jam light purse limitation mess mix morass narrow escape narrow gauge narrow means narrow squeak narrowness near go near miss near thing nearness parlous straits pass pickle pigeonhole pinch playhouse plight poorness poverty predicament pretty pass pretty pickle pretty predicament quagmire quicksand restrictedness restriction scrape slender means slenderness slough spot squeeze stew sticky wicket strait straitened circumstances straitness straits strictness swamp tight spot tightness tightrope tricky spot unholy mess unprosperousness voluntary poverty vows of poverty