"up against it" meaning in English

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": "up against it"
      },
      "expansion": "up against it",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "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"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2015 June 9, “Women’s World Cup 2015: England beaten by France in Group F opener”, in The Guardian (London)",
          "text": "Yet as intelligently as Rafferty, back at left-back following her recovery from a third ruptured cruciate ligament, was defending against the dangerous Élodie Thomis her side were up against it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a very difficult position."
      ],
      "id": "en-up_against_it-en-prep_phrase-e5X039Rl",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a very difficult position."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "up against the wall"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-up against it.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9d/En-au-up_against_it.ogg/En-au-up_against_it.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/En-au-up_against_it.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "up against it"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": "up against it"
      },
      "expansion": "up against it",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "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 audio links",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2015 June 9, “Women’s World Cup 2015: England beaten by France in Group F opener”, in The Guardian (London)",
          "text": "Yet as intelligently as Rafferty, back at left-back following her recovery from a third ruptured cruciate ligament, was defending against the dangerous Élodie Thomis her side were up against it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a very difficult position."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a very difficult position."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "up against the wall"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-up against it.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9d/En-au-up_against_it.ogg/En-au-up_against_it.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/En-au-up_against_it.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "up against it"
}