back down

verb

backed down; backing down; backs down

intransitive verb

: to withdraw from a commitment or position

Synonyms

• back out
• back off
• cop out
• recall

Examples of back down in a Sentence

if you back down about dinner again, I'm not going to agree to another date

Recent Examples on the Web

Twice per day, on the way up and back down, Kosmos 2589 briefly passes near a large number of US government and commercial satellites in more conventional geosynchronous orbits but then quickly departs the vicinity. —Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 11 July 2025

Beauty is not backing down from its inclusive positioning. E.l.f. —Emma Sandler, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025

Oil prices spiked sharply last month during the bloody, 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran but then tumbled back down as the U.S. helped broker a peace deal after dropping bombs on three of Iran’s key nuclear sites. —Boston Herald Wire Services, Boston Herald, 6 July 2025

But Dragon is reusable and can therefore haul scientific samples and other materials from the ISS safely back down to Earth. —Mike Wall, Space.com, 3 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for back down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown

Kids Definition

back down

verb

: to retreat from a stand one has taken or from a challenge one has accepted