contra las cuerdas

contra las cuerdas

1. (boxing, professional wrestling) on the ropes (leaning against the ropes of the boxing ring, as when exhausted and nearing defeat or collapse)
2. (idiomatic, figuratively, by extension) on the ropes (showing signs of imminent failure or collapse)

• “contra las cuerdas”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28