back foot
Britishnoun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was outstanding against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, winning the penalty Bryan Mbeumo scored to level and putting Atletico's defence on the back foot.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
It is that they keep finding themselves on their back foot, chasing markets too late or looking for solutions outside of their core business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
"He's on the back foot," Tim Bale, a political analyst at Queen Mary University of London, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
“Historically, we’ve seen Rhaenyra on the back foot in a kind of reactionary position. In the start of Season 3, she’s in a position of real strategic political power.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
The legs had to be shoulder distance apart with the front foot facing forward and the back foot perpendicular to the front.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
