as in to withdraw
to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable)
backed away from the snake very slowly and carefully
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Recent Examples of back away
The staff ran up to the fence door before slowly backing away.
—
Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 June 2025
Stand tall and back away slowly while facing the lion.
—Brooke Baitinger, Sacbee.com, 30 May 2025
Alldredge said the company is not backing away from its national ambitions — just thinking more intentionally about what that looks like.
—David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 4 June 2025
Face the lion and slowly back away leaving an escape route.
—Mitchell Willetts, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for back away
Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 June 2025
Stand tall and back away slowly while facing the lion.
—Brooke Baitinger, Sacbee.com, 30 May 2025
Alldredge said the company is not backing away from its national ambitions — just thinking more intentionally about what that looks like.
—David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 4 June 2025
Face the lion and slowly back away leaving an escape route.
—Mitchell Willetts, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for back away
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back away
Verb
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Of course, the former two had retired whereas the latter had only temporarily withdrawn.—
Charlotte Harpur,
New York Times,
4 July 2025
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The result will be an increase in preying on immigrants by the criminal element: robbery, protection scams, sweatshop labor and human trafficking, as the immigrant community withdraws from reliance on no-longer-safe court systems.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
4 July 2025
Verb
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And in this story, Superman retreats from the world after being rejected by the public for adhering to an older moral code.—
Ari Daniel,
Smithsonian Magazine,
10 July 2025
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But after several major box office debacles, including Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Apple retreated.—
Pamela McClintock,
HollywoodReporter,
9 July 2025
Verb
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The high is forecasted to fall back down to the low 80s.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
6 July 2025
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Paired with the 93,000 gain in the household measure of employment, this meant the unemployment rate fell back to 4.1% – its lowest since the start of the year.—
Fred Imbert,
CNBC,
3 July 2025
Verb
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Merle sold his barbershop the same day and retired.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
The Enquirer,
14 July 2025
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The same's true for someone who is retired and taking taxable withdrawals from traditional 401(k) plans.—
Susan Tompor,
Freep.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
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With this removal, the number of Google apps supported on watchOS drops back to three: Calendar, Maps, and YouTube Music.—
Jibin Joseph,
PC Magazine,
1 July 2025
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But Oklahoma City’s shooting, which has been mediocre in this series, will have to improve in a high-pressure situation to make the Pacers pay for dropping back into the gaps.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
21 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Back away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20away. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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