背城借一

to make a last-ditch stand before the city wall (idiom); to fight to the last ditch / to put up a desperate struggle

one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

to lend / to borrow / by means of / to take (an opportunity)

variant of 借[jie4]

city walls / city / town / CL:座[zuo4],道[dao4],個|个[ge4]

variant of 背[bei1]

to be burdened / to carry on the back or shoulder

the back of a body or object / to turn one's back / to hide something from / to learn by heart / to recite from memory / unlucky (slang) / hard of hearing