back foot

British  

noun

1. at a disadvantage; outmanoeuvred or outclassed by an opponent

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Example Sentences

Rwandan troops first intervened in Cabo Delgado in 2021, when Mozambique’s army was on the back foot and Islamic State fighters, belonging to what the group calls its Central African Province, were threatening the side-by-side gas projects of Exxon Mobil and France’s TotalEnergies.

From The Wall Street Journal

“They’re also on the back foot because too many people believe that if you become the target of a lawsuit and allegations are made, then you must be guilty of something, and there has to be truth to it. But that’s not the case.”

From The Wall Street Journal

A4E managing director Ourania Georgoutsakou argued that the current crisis presented "an opportunity to fix things in Europe and to reconsider how we manage aviation and how we manage airlines and how we've managed to put ourselves at the back foot here in Europe".

From Barron's

"The UK economy started the year on the back foot and activity is expected to weaken further amid sharply rising energy prices," she said.

From BBC

London, Paris and Frankfurt opened on the back foot.

From Barron's