up against
Contending or confronted with, as in I'm up against a strong opponent in this election. This idiom is also put as up against it, which means “in serious difficulty, especially in desperate financial straits.” For example, When the collection agency called again, we knew we were up against it. [Late 1800s]
Words Nearby up against
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use up against in a sentence
Then they came up against a police patrol on mountain bicycles, which again led to more shooting, without injuries.
Police Hunt for Paris Massacre Suspects | Tracy McNicoll, Christopher Dickey | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHe is a true advocate for human rights who has paid a horrible price for standing up against the Assad dictatorship.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015 | Movements.Org | December 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe see Peck's character change and at the same time we see the awesome size of the forces he's up against.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOne is, of course, inevitably up against the problem of translation when speaking of names.
Does Pope Francis Believe Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? | Jay Parini | December 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe are up against a really tough operation that is sitting on millions of dollars.
Bernie Sanders Is Showing Us the Socialist Way to Run for President | David Freedlander | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Hence it was that he found in Great Britain an implacable enemy ever stirring up against him European coalitions.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonSeems as if K. was beginning to come up against those political forces which have ever been a British Commander's bane.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonThe drunk was in a dismal alley, leaning up against the wall of a tavern which he had evidently just left.
I have borne me up against affliction, till my o'ercharged bosom can contain no longer.
The Battle of Hexham; | George ColmanThe utmost circumspection became necessary, and the young preacher had to bear up against much strife and opposition.
Skipper Worse | Alexander Lange Kielland
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