rearguard action
rearguard action noun: an offensive action by a rearguard.
Noun
rearguard action (plural rearguard actions)
- An offensive action by a rearguard.
- A desperate attempt to forestall the inevitable.
- to fight a rearguard action
- The New English came to control Ireland — their ultimate expression was the powerful ascendancy which enjoyed exclusive political power in the country for more than a century, and which fought a dogged rearguard action against diminution of its power during the nineteenth century.1991, Peter R. Newman, “New English”, in Companion to Irish History, 1603–1921, Oxford: Facts On File, →ISBN, page 132
Forms of rearguard action
| plural | rearguard actions |
|---|
Origin of rearguard action
From rearguard + action.
Questions about rearguard action
- What does rearguard action mean?
- Rearguard action means an offensive action by a rearguard.
- What part of speech is rearguard action?
- Rearguard action is a noun.
- What is the plural of rearguard action?
- The plural of rearguard action is rearguard actions.
Words near rearguard action in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rearguard action (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “rearguard action.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rearguard_action. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.