on the back foot

The idiom "on the back foot" originates from cricket and has broadened to describe being in a defensive or disadvantageous position in various contexts.

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Definition

B2General

(idiomatic)In a defensive or less advantageous position compared to an opponent.

Example

  • The company was on the back foot after the unexpected market downturn.
  • She found herself on the back foot during the debate, struggling to respond to the tough questions.

B2General

(idiomatic)Reacting to situations rather than controlling them.

Example

  • The team was on the back foot, constantly trying to counter the opponent's aggressive plays.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "on the back foot":

on the front footon the defensiveon the wrong foottake a back seatout on one's feeton the ropescaught on the hopbehind in the counton one's backon someone's backbehind the curveout at the heelsoff balancefront footon the back ofon one's feetstep backkeep backon the turnoff guardflat on one's backstepping backdown at heeloff one's gameon the right footoff sidetail between one's legsstand backon the fenceon the ballon one's legsat bayfall behindfall backget behindon sideoff baseturn one's backwatch one's backback downtaken abackout of stepstand behindat sixes and sevensback offhold backwalk back