back down

verb

backed down; backing down; backs down

intransitive verb

: to withdraw from a commitment or position

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
He had been assigned the last car in a row of six, each manned by a colored youth standing inside his metal box in a red uniform, operating the lever that sent the car up from the basement grill to the roof-garden restaurant on the fifteenth floor and then back down again all day. Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025 And more than anything, more than the animosity between the programs, more than the College Football Playoff impact, more than Notre Dame puffing its chest out as USC backed down, that familiarity was the real higher power at work. Pete Sampson, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025 The administration only backed down after both Democrats and Republicans criticized the move. Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 18 Oct. 2025 The Administration only backed down after both Democrats and Republicans criticized the move. Andy Kroll, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for back down

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of back down was in 1849

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Back down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/back%20down. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

back down

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

More from Merriam-Webster on back down

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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