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.
“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
But since the onset of the current outbreak, the hospital has been on the back foot.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
Stocks started the week on the back foot amid rising tensions in the largely closed Strait of Hormuz, but futures are pointing to small gains at the open today.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
Huge steps made by Red Bull this weekend but an uncharacteristic mistake on the first lap sending him into a spin left him on the back foot.
From BBC • May 3, 2026
Joon leapt forward, and then just as it looked like he might clear, his back foot caught a branch.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
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.
