back away

verb

backed away; backing away; backs away

intransitive verb

: to move away (as from a stand on an issue or from a commitment)

Synonyms

• drop back
• fall back
• pull out
• recede
• retire
• retreat
• withdraw

Example Sentences

backed away from the snake very slowly and carefully

Recent Examples on the Web

Say your piece and back away. —Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 3 June 2022

The outcry forced the FTX chief to back away. —Gregory Zuckerman And Alexander Osipovich, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022

Sometimes the only option is to back away. —Time, 26 Oct. 2022

Slowly and calmly back away. —Alex Hazlett, SELF, 24 Oct. 2022

When the judge asked these other parties to propose a solution, Pitt, like his fellow defendants, backed away. —Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2023

Draw your shoulders down and back away from your ears. —Women's Health, 25 Mar. 2023

When the commission adopted that recommendation, the Senate backed away from introducing their bill. —Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Mar. 2023

Republicans have backed away from talk of cutting Medicare. —David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above