be on the back foot

To be in a position of disadvantage, retreat, or defeat. A large portion of our funding was cut at the last minute, so this project has been on the back foot from the get-go. The once-dominant airline company has been on the back foot ever since several no-frills competitors entered the market.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Veda	-	Indian, Telugu, Kannada
Mikki	MIK-ee	English
Martti	MAHRT-tee	Finnish
Lambert	['læmbət]
Estelle	es-TEL	English, French
Calixta	-	Spanish, Portuguese