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's on the back foot," Tim Bale, a political analyst at Queen Mary University of London, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Transgender advocates concede they are, for now, on the back foot legally.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 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
Clarke believes that crushing defeat put Scotland "on the back foot" for the remainder of their tournament, which again ended at the group stage.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Probably because he didn’t throw off his back foot.
From "Orbiting Jupiter" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
