Faced with the inescapable net, he finally turned himself in.
Tips
history
Appears in the Song-dynasty 《大宋宣和遗事》 and in Yuan zaju 《锁魔镜》第三折: 天兵下了天罗地网. The image: nets stretched across sky (天罗) and ground (地网) so thoroughly that nothing can pass. Classical martial and judicial writings adopted it for comprehensive dragnets.
usage
Often in police/military contexts: 布下天罗地网 (to set up a dragnet). Also fantasy/wuxia fiction, where it describes literal spell-nets. Strong set phrase, almost always used as object of 布下, 设下, 张开, or 面对.
