hard up

Idioms  

1. In need, poor, as in Unemployment is rising and many families are hard up, or With widespread emigration, Russia is finding itself hard up for scientists and other professional people. [Colloquial; early 1800s]

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Example Sentences

Some 1.4 million are in Rafah, hard up against the Egyptian border wire.

From BBC • Feb. 11, 2024

And while we can't know for sure, it's likely that #2 Smith Court, hard up against the African Meeting House, was the final home Rebecca shared with Wyatt.

From Scientific American • Nov. 2, 2023

Part of the success has come from trying to refocus his approach on hitting the ball hard up the middle and to right-center.

From Seattle Times • May 27, 2023

Fitzgerald was hard up for money, and he sold each story to Esquire for $250.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023

More than that, though, they were hard up against the fact that a few minutes of extreme exertion were about to tell them whether five and a half months of training had been worthwhile.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown