up against it

idiom

informal
: in a difficult situation
With hardly any money or time left, we are really up against it!

Examples of up against it in a Sentence

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But the final result was costly and Liverpool are up against it. Phil Hay, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2026 To put things bluntly, the Tigers are up against it, but there is still a path towards a tournament berth. Joseph Pastilha, Kansas City Star, 29 Jan. 2026 More optimistic Syrians had faith the regime would be toppled eventually, not by the current generation that rose up against it, but a future one. Hassan Hassan, Time, 8 Dec. 2025 His daughter drove a snowmobile behind the sled, and often rammed up against it, pushing and steering from behind. Ben Taub, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for up against it

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“Up against it.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/up%20against%20it. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.

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