"behind the eight-ball" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "First use appears c. 1923 in the Buffalo Evening Times. Thought to derive from the game of Kelly pool, in which players assigned balls numerically higher than 8, that is, balls that are behind the 8 ball in order, have little possibility of winning, or from eight-ball pool, where one cannot contact the eight ball on a shot before it is the legal ball, frustrating shots, or more generally, from the fact that the 8 ball is considered harder to aim at because of its color.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "behind the eight-ball",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "behind the eight-ball",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "After his last two projects failed, he was really behind the eight-ball.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "He was desperate, playing behind the eight-ball.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a difficult situation or tight spot; at a disadvantage."
      ],
      "id": "en-behind_the_eight-ball-en-prep_phrase-KYsJBnPu",
      "links": [
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
        [
          "tight spot",
          "tight spot"
        ],
        [
          "disadvantage",
          "disadvantage"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a difficult situation or tight spot; at a disadvantage."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "sense": "in a difficult situation",
          "word": "snookered"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-behind the eight-ball.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3d/En-au-behind_the_eight-ball.ogg/En-au-behind_the_eight-ball.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/En-au-behind_the_eight-ball.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "behind the eight-ball"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "First use appears c. 1923 in the Buffalo Evening Times. Thought to derive from the game of Kelly pool, in which players assigned balls numerically higher than 8, that is, balls that are behind the 8 ball in order, have little possibility of winning, or from eight-ball pool, where one cannot contact the eight ball on a shot before it is the legal ball, frustrating shots, or more generally, from the fact that the 8 ball is considered harder to aim at because of its color.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "behind the eight-ball",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "behind the eight-ball",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "After his last two projects failed, he was really behind the eight-ball.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "He was desperate, playing behind the eight-ball.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a difficult situation or tight spot; at a disadvantage."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
        [
          "tight spot",
          "tight spot"
        ],
        [
          "disadvantage",
          "disadvantage"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a difficult situation or tight spot; at a disadvantage."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-behind the eight-ball.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3d/En-au-behind_the_eight-ball.ogg/En-au-behind_the_eight-ball.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/En-au-behind_the_eight-ball.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "in a difficult situation",
      "word": "snookered"
    }
  ],
  "word": "behind the eight-ball"
}