на задворках

• НА ЗАДВОРКАХ (чего) быть, держать кого-что coll

[PrepP; Invar; usu. subj-compl with copula (subj: human, collect, or abstr) or obj-compl with держать (obj: human, collect, or abstr)]

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⇒ (of or in refer, to a person) (to be, keep s.o.) in a secondary, disadvantageous role or position; (of or in refer, to an issue, proposal etc) (to be, keep sth.) out of the focus of attention, ignore (sth.):

- (be <be kept, keep s.o. or sth.>) in the background;

- [of or in refer, to a person](take <be forced to take etc>) a back seat;

- [of or in refer, to an issue, proposal etc] (be <be put, put sth.>) on the back burner.

     ♦ Казачьи офицеры были на задворках... движение по службе было слабым... (Шолохов 3). The Cossack officers had been kept in the background...; promotion had been slow... (3b).

     ♦ Конечно, и Васькин за это время преуспел. Но - с большим отставанием и в меньших масштабах [, чем я], на задворках, так сказать (Зиновьев 2). Of course, during the same period Vaskin, too, came to succeed. But he was very much behind me, on a lower scale-forced, one might say, to take a back seat (2a).