come from behind

come from behind

1. verb To overcome a deficit to win a game or competition. Our defense is truly terrible. How else do you explain that team coming from behind to beat us?
2. adjective Describing a victory in which the winning team or person overcomes a deficit in order to win. In this usage, the phrase is typically hyphenated. I turned the game off when they were down 6-0, so I missed their impressive come-from-behind win!
See also: behind, come
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

come (up) from behind

to advance in competition; to improve one's position relative to the positions of other things or people. The horse was working hard to come up from behind. Lee was losing in the election, but he began to come from behind in the last week.
See also: behind, come

come from behind

to advance from a losing position. (Alludes to being behind in a score or in a race.) Our team came from behind to win the game. The horse I bet on came from behind and almost placed second.
See also: behind, come
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

come from behind

Also, come up from behind. Advance from the rear or from a losing position, as in You can expect the Mets to come from behind before the season is over, or The polls say our candidate is coming up from behind. This idiom, which originated in horse racing, was first transferred to scores in various sports and later to more general use.
See also: behind, come
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • explain (oneself)
  • explain oneself
  • explain yourself
  • face off
  • face-off
  • blow
  • blown
  • cross over
  • answer to
  • bagged
References in periodicals archive
The stronger team are more likely than the weaker team to come from behind and win.
MOST people probably bet in this market because they have heard some startling statistic - that one team have come from behind to win in an unusually large number of recent games.
Meanwhile, in 2011-12, Manchester United did not come from behind to win in any of their games.
"It is a very good result and good to come from behind but there are still many technical issues that need sorting out."