as in to withdraw
to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable)
backed away from the snake very slowly and carefully
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Recent Examples of back away
And yet the Republican administration and its congressional allies are showing no signs of caving to Democratic demands or backing away from threats to use the opportunity to pursue deeper cuts to the federal workforce.
—
Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2025
Video showed the man backing away from Sanchez, who stands 6-feet-2-inches, before the former quarterback followed then ran after the man, grabbing and throwing him toward the wall of the Westin, another downtown hotel, police wrote in the affidavit.
—IndyStar, 6 Oct. 2025
Sometimes the animal will also become stiff due to stress or roll up into a ball and back away from people.
—Gillian Stawiszynski, Cincinnati Enquirer, 29 Sep. 2025
McIlroy backed away, drawing jeers, before Lowry came over to settle him.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back away
Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2025
Video showed the man backing away from Sanchez, who stands 6-feet-2-inches, before the former quarterback followed then ran after the man, grabbing and throwing him toward the wall of the Westin, another downtown hotel, police wrote in the affidavit.
—IndyStar, 6 Oct. 2025
Sometimes the animal will also become stiff due to stress or roll up into a ball and back away from people.
—Gillian Stawiszynski, Cincinnati Enquirer, 29 Sep. 2025
McIlroy backed away, drawing jeers, before Lowry came over to settle him.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back away
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back away
Verb
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Per Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel of ESPN, the University of Michigan and Moore appealed the case but have since withdrawn their appeals.—
Jordan Sigler,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
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The South American country withdrew visa-free access in April in response to the three countries barring Brazilian passport holders from visa-free access.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In the example below from their 2-1 win over Girona, Barcelona man-mark the opposition midfielders but Fermin Lopez’s passive positioning allows a pass into retreating centre-forward Portu.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Teddy demands that Michelle take him and Don to her Andromedan leader in the hope of forcing the invaders to retreat.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That also means its almost time for clocks to fall back.—
Dina Kaur,
AZCentral.com,
25 Oct. 2025
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As highlighted below, teams can be aggressive in going player-for-player (often led by the lone striker) or fall back into a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 defensive block.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But Kroos retired from all football in summer 2024, and there were concerns at the club this off-season that the squad lacks such experienced heads, after Modric (and fellow long-serving squad member Lucas Vazquez) also left.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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Glover, who left the church in 2007 and retired last year after a half century in the Assemblies of God, denied these accounts.—
Mike Hixenbaugh,
NBC news,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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McNeill dropped back and scrambled for a few seconds before finding Kash Kelly in the end zone for a touchdown.—
Jack Murray,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
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With space, Alejado dropped back and quickly spotted another wide-open target, Nick Cenacle.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
19 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Back away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20away. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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