From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishput somebody on the spotput somebody on the spotASK FOR something/ASK somebody TO DO somethingto deliberately ask someone a question that is difficult or embarrassing to answer → spot
Examples from the Corpus
put somebody on the spot• Now the Supreme Court has put him on the spot.• That sure put you on the spot.• You shouldn't put friends on the spot by asking them to hire your family members.• This put Charles on the spot.• The reporter's questions were clearly designed to put the Senator on the spot.• I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'm really curious about how you know Tim.• The aim was to put them on the spot - or at least to impress the Inspector with your knowledge and concern. 