rearguard action
An offensive action by a rearguardAn offensive action by a rearguard.
» The opposition minnows fought a desperate rearguard action in defence of their one-goal lead.
Die kleinen Fische der generischen Mannschaft verteidigten in erbitterter Verteidigungsschlacht ihren Eintorvorsprung. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
sundown · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 sensesAn offensive action by a rearguard.
(figuratively)A desperate attempt to forestall the inevitable.
to fight a rearguard action
Examples
1 sentencesThe opposition minnows fought a desperate rearguard action in defence of their one-goal lead.
deDie kleinen Fische der generischen Mannschaft verteidigten in erbitterter Verteidigungsschlacht ihren Eintorvorsprung. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Origin
From rearguard + action.From rearguard + action.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: rearguard actions| Singular | rearguard action |
|---|---|
| Plural | rearguard actions |
regular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.