as in to back down
to break a promise or agreement
you'd better not back off on your promise to do all the planning for the big dance
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Recent Examples of back off
The Boston Celtics also retreated with their interest, while the Timberwolves, after showing a willingness to offer two second-round picks for Ellis, backed off as their Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit ramped up and became the priority.
—
Sam Amick, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026
Reduce policy uncertainty, back off the tariffs, stop changing the rules, address the supply side and pay more attention to why wages have stalled out.
—Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 30 Jan. 2026
But the president backed off after appeals from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives, including Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO whose family name is attached to the Oakland children’s hospital.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026
Healthy cells that still have their MGMT gene intact will simply pluck the methyl group back off.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for back off
Sam Amick, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026
Reduce policy uncertainty, back off the tariffs, stop changing the rules, address the supply side and pay more attention to why wages have stalled out.
—Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 30 Jan. 2026
But the president backed off after appeals from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives, including Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO whose family name is attached to the Oakland children’s hospital.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026
Healthy cells that still have their MGMT gene intact will simply pluck the methyl group back off.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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This week, for the first time at the Olympics, skiers will scamper uphill wearing carpet-like skins on their skis or just their stiff boots, then barrel back down an ungroomed course.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
15 Feb. 2026
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While Lee and Hauswald prepare to roll out their vision, Houston, the City Council member, has not backed down from his push to expedite clearings of tents and RVs.—
Grant Stringer,
Mercury News,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In Oklahoma City, after several protests and a packed city council meeting, a company that had planned to sell its warehouse to ICE backed out of the deal – a move cheered by Republican Mayor David Holt.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
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By 2025, average maturities had maturities had stretched back out to 71 months.—
Daniel J. Arbess,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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On Thursday, there were 652 officers on the force, with nearly 100 cops out on some kind of administrative or medical leave.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
8 Aug. 2025
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But with that brief wave of hope came new footage on Twitter every night of the NYPD acting like bad cops out of a Harvey Keitel flick: cops harassing peaceful crowds, cops kettling activists, cops literally driving a car into a crowd of protestors.—
Maris Kreizman,
Rolling Stone,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Back off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20off. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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