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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of back off
If the animal appears scared or defensive, such as crouching, hissing, growling, or retreating, back off and call animal control or a local rescue.
—
Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 July 2025
While Trump has floated the idea of firing Fed chair Jerome Powell, the president on July 24 backed off his threats following a visit to the Fed’s headquarters.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 30 July 2025
Betts backed off and left Conforto to make a futile dive for the ball.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 29 July 2025
However, Grant took over the fight in the second and third rounds, landing his strikes with a lot of power, which seemed to back off Blackshear.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 July 2025
While Trump has floated the idea of firing Fed chair Jerome Powell, the president on July 24 backed off his threats following a visit to the Fed’s headquarters.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 30 July 2025
Betts backed off and left Conforto to make a futile dive for the ball.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 29 July 2025
However, Grant took over the fight in the second and third rounds, landing his strikes with a lot of power, which seemed to back off Blackshear.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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The Toronto Film Festival has backed down from a decision to pull the invite for director Barry Avrich’s Israel October 7 documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue over security and footage clearance concerns.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Aug. 2025
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The president, for his part, isn’t backing down despite flagging consumer sentiment and consternation from economists.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Some of the Russian crude oil sent to India is then refined and exported back out to other countries – because sanctions on Moscow don’t include products refined outside Russia.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
6 Aug. 2025
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The Yankees got their 2024 AL Rookie of the Year back out on the mound for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon against the Miami Marlins.—
James O'Connell,
New York Daily News,
3 Aug. 2025
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 Aug. 2025.
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