caught flat-footed

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Idioms and Phrases

Caught unprepared, taken by surprise, as in The reporter's question caught the President flat-footed . This usage comes from one or another sport in which a player should be on his or her toes, ready to act. [c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“Whether it’s moving people or cargo or other things we can’t even conceive yet, Amazon doesn’t want to be caught flat-footed.”

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And the Senate Democrats were especially caught flat-footed because they were figuring it wouldn’t get out of the House.

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Meanwhile, liberals who celebrated her nomination and were prepared to mark her “historic first” have been caught flat-footed.

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Marrone’s firefighters poured into Pacific Palisades that morning to assist the city, which had been caught flat-footed after staffing a fraction of its available engines amid a parched landscape and forecasts of life-threatening winds.

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With both sides of the alliance caught flat-footed by changes in where and how Americans consume information, it’s little wonder that the combined reach of Hollywood and the Democratic Party has not been an ace in the hole with voters.

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

caught dead, wouldn't be caught in the middle

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