As a Verb or Adjective: 1. In a competition or race, to be behind your rival(s) and for your position to get worse. English = fall behind, fall back, drop back, be losing. 2. To have progressed less quickly at something than had been planned. English = (be) behind. 3. To move in a direction opposite to that intended. English = go backward. 4. In life generally, especially in a social or economic sense, to have fewer or unequal opportunities than your peers. English = (be) disadvantaged. 5.