as in to back out
to break a promise or agreement
if you back down about dinner again, I'm not going to agree to another date
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of back down
Trump traveled to Alaska calling for a ceasefire before backing down.
—
Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
Much of the downturn is driven by streamer pull back down over 100% on early 2024, Bisson said.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025
But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2025
Bessent and Greer were cautiously optimistic that Beijing would back down and return to the negotiating table.
—Steve Kopack, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back down
Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
Much of the downturn is driven by streamer pull back down over 100% on early 2024, Bisson said.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025
But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2025
Bessent and Greer were cautiously optimistic that Beijing would back down and return to the negotiating table.
—Steve Kopack, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back down
Verb
-
Friends and family fully lean into it — sending Holly into the stall when things aren’t looking good, only calling her back out for the action once the team starts turning things around.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Such was not the case in 2021, when UCLA backed out five hours before kickoff against North Carolina State.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But seeing Scherzer grow animated as Schneider approached, shortstop Andrés Giménez backed off.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Despite increasingly menacing warnings to back off and stop prying into the lives of rich power players thorny about their privacy, Lo remains determined to get to the truth.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
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
-
How did one moped — perhaps a light-bodied Eighties-era Mobylette, which Le Grand recalls seeing in the young men’s apartment — carry two adult men and a 300-pound marble bust through the streets of Paris?—
David Kushner,
Rolling Stone,
20 Oct. 2025
-
See full list of shrimp items recalled What should consumers do?—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Back down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20down. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share