BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL Definition & Meaning

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behind the eight ball

A term, referring to the game of pool, meaning in an unfavorable or uncomfortable position: “After his unkind remarks were repeated to the boss, Gary really ended up behind the eight ball.”

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Idioms and Phrases

In trouble or an awkward position, out of luck, as in His check bounced, leaving Jim behind the eight ball with his landlord . The term comes from pocket billiards or pool, where in certain games if the number eight ball is between the “cue ball” and “object ball” the player cannot make a straight shot. [ Colloquial ; c. 1920]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“The ideal would be to alert them well before embers actually start falling,” he said, “because once that happens, you know you’re already behind the eight ball.”

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“It has hurt our snowpack by not adding to it. So we’re behind the eight ball throughout the state.”

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County is “behind the eight ball on that.”

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“Nobody wants to be behind the eight ball,” said Daisy Stall, head of entertainment finance at California Bank & Trust.

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Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said retaining an income tax with multiple rates would keep Kansas “behind the eight ball” economically.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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