back against the wall 字面意思就是”背靠着墙“，感觉很舒服的样子，然而它的比喻意义恰恰相反，可以意为”没有退路，情况危急，处境困难“，经常可以用在商业领域，形容公司面临的严峻形势，寓意：
to be in a tough situation with limited options
处境艰难，选择有限
to be in trouble and not have many ways out
陷入困境却没有很多出路
to not have retreat from a bad situation
在不好的情况下不退缩
如果你已经毫无退路的话，就只有硬着头皮去面对问题了。
例如：
The company has its back against the wall and if the employees do not help out now, it will be bankrupt soon.
公司现在情况危急，如果员工现在不帮助公司，公司很快就会破产。
解析：短语动词 help sb out 意为”帮助某人摆脱“，通常是困境，也可以单独使用 help out.
I had my back against the wall, health wise, when I had my first child. But she was the reason why I kept trying to get better.
我生第一个孩子的时候，为了健康，我没有退路。但她是我不断努力改善的原因。
No one should be in a situation like that, with their back against the wall, fighting with their loved ones.
任何人都不应该处在这样的情况下，没有退路，与亲人搏斗。
解析：现在分词fighting with their loved ones 在句中作状语。
When you have your back against the wall, you will have no time to realize what went wrong and how you can correct it.
当没有退路时，你就没有时间意识到什么地方出了问题，也不知道如何才能改正它。
People who have their back against the wall should not be the ones trying to teach others how to run a business.
处境困难的人不应该是那些试图教别人如何经营企业的人。
学了不少的习语，现在稍微总结一下，若一个短语的字面意思没有任何意义，那么它就只会是一个习惯用语，例如：bite the dust，kick the habit 等等；若一个短语的字面意思有意义，但是放到具体的上下文中，意思很奇怪或是不合常理，那么它还有寓意，例如：kick the bucket，as the clow flies 等等。
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