on one's knees

Language: en

Meaning: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically:seeon,‎one,‎knee.; kneeling, begging or as ifbegging1928,W[illiam] B[utler] Yeats,Sophocles’King Oedipus: A Version of the Modern Stage, London:Macmillan and Co.,[…],→OCLC:For god’s love do not turn away—if you have knowledge. We suppli­ants implore youon our knees.; (idiomatic)On the verge of collapse; at the mercy of someone.2011January 22, “Man Utd 5 - 0 Birmingham”, inBBC‎[1]:HungryBerbatovthen converted aGiggscross for his third beforeNanislotted a fifth with Birminghamon their knees.2023March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, inRAIL, number978, page38:The accepted view is that at the end of hostilities in 1945, the railways wereon their knees.

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