suck the mop

verb2

1. •
   (slang) To be left in a disadvantageous position.
2. •
   (slang, no longer used) Of a bus: to be deliberately boxed in by another so as to lose the opportunity to pick up passengers.

   • "Now then, poppy-head:" — this to the conductor of a rival omnibus before us — "how long am I to go on sucking the mop?" — 1867