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on the ropes

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.06 sec.
on the ropes
doing badly and likely to fail His political career is on the ropes.
Etymology: from the idea of a weakened prize fighter who leans against the ropes that surround the boxing ring
See also: rope


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? References in classic literature
He leaned backward on the ropes and looked his hatred at them, swept it on and about him till the whole ten thousand Gringos were included.
The pony did not like it, sometimes so successfully resisting with spread, taut legs and mutinous head-tossings, as to overcome the jerk of the ropes, and, at the same time wheeling, to fall heavily on its side or to uprear as the pull on the ropes was relaxed.
Then tears come, and like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we break.
 
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