go to the wall for someone

== English == === Etymology === From a fight or military retreating until they cannot escape; see have one's back to the wall and retreat to the wall doctrine in common law. === Pronunciation === === Verb === go to the wall (third-person singular simple present goes to the wall, present participle going to the wall, simple past went to the wall, past participle gone to the wall) (idiomatic) To make an all-out effort. (idiomatic) To fail, to run out of options. (especially of a business) To be put aside or forgotten. To take an extreme and determined position or measure. ==== Usage notes ==== In the sense "to make an all-out effort", go to the wall is used with for (“on behalf of”) and on (“about"," concerning”) and other synonymous prepositions. ==== Related terms ==== have one's back to the wall retreat to the wall ==== See also ==== balls to the wall go to the mat up against the wall === References === Go to the wall, at The Word Detective "Heavens to Betsy" by Charles Earle Funk (1955, Harper & Row, New York). Quoted at The Phrase Finder “go to the wall”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.