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
Seong-Hyeon	sung-hyun	Korean
CaoimhÍN	KEE-veen, KWEE-vin	Irish
Narcissus	nar-SIS-əs (English)	Greek Mythology (Latinized), Late Roman, Biblical
Juana	HWAH-nah	Spanish
Aliaksei	-	Belarusian
Lara	['lærə]