With some difficulty (2,1,7)
I believe the answer is:
at a stretch
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">with some difficulty</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(at a stretch means in difficult circumstances)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for at a stretch that I've seen before include "With difficulty; without interruption" , "With much effort" , "Running, possibly" , "in one continuous period" .)