walk back
verb
walked back; walking back; walks back
US
: to retreat from or distance oneself from (a previously stated opinion or position)
… try not to say anything in the primary campaign that you might need to walk back in the general election.—
The Progressive Populist
The Progressive Populist… has tried to walk back his suggestion about Japan, in particular, claiming in recent days that he "never said" that the Asian nation should acquire nuclear weapons.—Julian Hattem
Julian HattemExamples of walk back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.42%, walking back some of last week’s gains.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 1 July 2025
White House sources subsequently attempted to walk back the tariff idea.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
Canada then walked back its digital services tax on Sunday night, just before it was set to require the first payment of its tech tax, which would have charged 3 percent of revenues above $14.57 million, or 20 million Canadian dollars.
—Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 30 June 2025
Race winner George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Second placed Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing walk back from the Stewards Office during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec.
—Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for walk back
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Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 1 July 2025
White House sources subsequently attempted to walk back the tariff idea.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
Canada then walked back its digital services tax on Sunday night, just before it was set to require the first payment of its tech tax, which would have charged 3 percent of revenues above $14.57 million, or 20 million Canadian dollars.
—Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 30 June 2025
Race winner George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Second placed Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing walk back from the Stewards Office during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec.
—Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for walk back
Cite this Entry
“Walk back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/walk%20back. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
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