as in to back down
to break a promise or agreement
she backed out on her offer to help with the wedding planning
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of back out
Young, unemployed family man Nick (MacKay) volunteers to take the boat back out, along with taciturn, new-in-town drifter Liam (Turner) and grizzled seadog Murgey (Francis Magee).
—
Guy Lodge, Variety, 31 Aug. 2025
Eight selective colleges signed on last spring to accept Dialogues portfolios as part of a pilot project, but two of them — Vanderbilt University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — backed out in July.
—Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2025
Pull the zip back out and remove and dispose of any hair or other materials that are caught on the teeth.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 27 Aug. 2025
However, five months later, USF backed out of the commitment, Taylor told the Miami Herald.
—Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back out
Guy Lodge, Variety, 31 Aug. 2025
Eight selective colleges signed on last spring to accept Dialogues portfolios as part of a pilot project, but two of them — Vanderbilt University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — backed out in July.
—Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2025
Pull the zip back out and remove and dispose of any hair or other materials that are caught on the teeth.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 27 Aug. 2025
However, five months later, USF backed out of the commitment, Taylor told the Miami Herald.
—Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back out
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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In both cases, Tibetans immediately backed off.—
Tenzin Dorjee,
Foreign Affairs,
1 Sep. 2025
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Discomfort is a sign to back off.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
30 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
Verb
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Burn hazards, meaning use of the product could lead to burns, were behind 294 recalls in the same time frame.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Sep. 2025
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On the red carpet at the Jazz at Lincoln Center, Bonneville recalls finding out about Dockery's exciting news.—
Gabrielle Rockson,
PEOPLE,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Back out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20out. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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