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
Up next, is Elon Musk already backing off his promise to launch a third party?
—
ABC News, 24 Aug. 2025
While Israeli officials are reportedly still looking at the deal Hamas accepted, Netanyahu has not signaled backing off the offensive on Gaza City, calling up approximately 60,000 Israeli troops for the massive military undertaking and with no clear end state.
—Laura Kelly, The Hill, 23 Aug. 2025
Those ahead of him backed off, reluctant to engage.
—Andy Jones, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2025
My advice is to back off — for now, anyway.
—Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
ABC News, 24 Aug. 2025
While Israeli officials are reportedly still looking at the deal Hamas accepted, Netanyahu has not signaled backing off the offensive on Gaza City, calling up approximately 60,000 Israeli troops for the massive military undertaking and with no clear end state.
—Laura Kelly, The Hill, 23 Aug. 2025
Those ahead of him backed off, reluctant to engage.
—Andy Jones, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2025
My advice is to back off — for now, anyway.
—Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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An opportunity to shove the New York Yankees back down in the standings with the clubs meeting for the regular season’s final time.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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Despite mounting pressure, Corpus — the county’s first Latina sheriff — shows no signs of backing down.—
Ryan Macasero,
Mercury News,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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By the time Sega backed out of the hardware race post-Dreamcast, Shinobi mostly limped on with a couple of 3D entries for PlayStation and Nintendo platforms before fading into obscurity.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
3 Sep. 2025
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The driver was trying to back out, but the tires were just spinning in the mud.—
Harriet Ramos,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Sep. 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 9 Sep. 2025.
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