With rising labour costs, industry has its back to the wall.
When his back was against the wall he became very aggressive.
New idioms dictionary. 2014.
have (your) back to the wall — have (your) back against/to the wall to have very serious problems which limit the ways in which you can act. With rising labour costs, industry has its back to the wall. When his back was against the wall he became very aggressive … New idioms dictionary
with your back against the wall — with (your/its) back against the wall in a serious situation with few ways to react to it. Many of these schools find themselves with their backs against the wall, and unless they get more funding, they ll have to fire some teachers. Usage notes … New idioms dictionary
with its back against the wall — with (your/its) back against the wall in a serious situation with few ways to react to it. Many of these schools find themselves with their backs against the wall, and unless they get more funding, they ll have to fire some teachers. Usage notes … New idioms dictionary
with back against the wall — with (your/its) back against the wall in a serious situation with few ways to react to it. Many of these schools find themselves with their backs against the wall, and unless they get more funding, they ll have to fire some teachers. Usage notes … New idioms dictionary
back is to/against the wall — ◇ When your back is to/against the wall or you have your back to/against the wall you are in a bad position in which you are forced to do something in order to avoid failure. With our backs to the wall we made a last desperate effort to finish… … Useful english dictionary
back — I [[t]bæ̱k[/t]] ADVERB USES ♦ (In addition to the uses shown below, back is also used in phrasal verbs such as date back and fall back on .) 1) ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV prep If you move back, you move in the opposite direction to the one in… … English dictionary
back — 1 adverb 1 RETURN in or into the place or position where someone or something was before: Freddie was supposed to be back at the hotel by six. | Put that book back where you found it! | We d better go back, she said regretfully. 2 AS BEFORE in or … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
Against the Day — infobox Book | name = Against the Day image caption = First edition cover author = Thomas Pynchon country = United States language = English genre = Novel publisher = Penguin Press release date = November 21, 2006 pages = 1085 pp media type =… … Wikipedia
wall — [[t]wɔ͟ːl[/t]] ♦ walls, walling, walled 1) N COUNT A wall is one of the vertical sides of a building or room. Kathryn leaned against the wall of the church... The bedroom walls would be papered with chintz... She checked the wall clock. Derived… … English dictionary
wall — 1 noun (C) 1 AROUND AN AREA an upright flat structure made of stone or brick, that divides one area from another: The garden was surrounded by a high brick wall. 2 IN A BUILDING one of the sides of a room or building: We decided to paint the… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
