After a strike Edward was up against it (7)
I believe the answer is:
abutted
'was up against it' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'after a strike edward' is the wordplay.
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'strike' becomes 'butt' (butting is a kind of striking).
'edward' becomes 'Ed' (short for Edward).
'a' next to 'butt' is 'abutt'.
'abutt'+'ed'='ABUTTED'
(Other definitions for abutted that I've seen before include "Was close to" , "Adjoined, bordered" , "Lay next to" .)