off balance
1
Out of equilibrium, unsteady, as in When learning how to ride a two-wheeler, it's easy to get off balance and fall, or She stood up and threw the canoe off balance. [Mid-1900s]
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2
Surprised, unprepared, as in The teacher gives unannounced tests to keep the class off balance. [Second half of 1900s]
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Examples from the Web for off-balance
Contemporary Examples
Libra The current cosmic climate brings temptation, potentially setting you off-balance.
Indeed, Congress confronted this same problem in 1933, when it investigated the off-balance sheet transactions of that era.
The gaping hole in the bill involves a concept known as off-balance sheet accounting.
That people were allowed to have all these off-balance sheets was like having a second set of books.
Historical Examples
Even when she was off-balance, her feet tapped out the elementary routine.
At the PostHorace Leonard Gold
Retief put out an arm as the vehicle rounded a corner, just catching the ambassador as he staggered, off-balance.
The Yillian WayJohn Keith Laumer
Youre not yourself; youre over-strained and off-balance and Im so frightfully sorry all this has fallen upon you at such a time.
Adrienne TonerAnne Douglas Sedgwick
The second beam took Rynason in the left wrist and spun him off-balance for a moment.
Warlord of KorTerry Gene Carr