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
Fearing for Sydney’s safety, police eventually backed off — allowing Johnson to slip away.
—
Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Benioff clarified his National Guard comments in subsequent days leading up to Dreamforce, without backing off his long-running concerns over public safety.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
The latter was looking to win a throw off the former with his clearance, but Aaronson managed to divert it back off the defender for a Leeds ball.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
The Apollo-era lunar module was a two-part spacecraft—a descent stage that landed the astronauts on the surface, and an ascent stage, containing the crew compartment, that lifted back off, leaving the bottom half of the vehicle on the moon.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Benioff clarified his National Guard comments in subsequent days leading up to Dreamforce, without backing off his long-running concerns over public safety.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
The latter was looking to win a throw off the former with his clearance, but Aaronson managed to divert it back off the defender for a Leeds ball.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
The Apollo-era lunar module was a two-part spacecraft—a descent stage that landed the astronauts on the surface, and an ascent stage, containing the crew compartment, that lifted back off, leaving the bottom half of the vehicle on the moon.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position.—
Leoni Jesner,
Health,
1 Nov. 2025
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Police were dispatched to the scene and the owner eventually lured the pet back down to the ground by bribing it with a cookie.—
Ella Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Shanahan was asked if Jones' solid play has any effect on how quickly the team gets Purdy back out on the field.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
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All the charges, however, weren't bail-eligible due to the state's 2019 no-bail law, sending Gooding back out onto the streets.—
Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 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 8 Nov. 2025.
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