fight a rearguard action

to try very hard to prevent something from happening when it is probably too late to prevent it (often + against ) The unions were fighting a rearguard action against the government's attempt to strip them of their powers.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Haluk	-	Turkish
Cadwalader	-	Welsh
Rosie	['rəuzi]
Maredudd	mah-RE-deeth	Welsh
Dimitar	-	Bulgarian, Macedonian
Tamsen	-	English (Rare)