as in backing out
to break a promise or agreement
if you back down about dinner again, I'm not going to agree to another date
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Recent Examples of backing down
Trump traveled to Alaska calling for a ceasefire before backing down.
—
Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
The President, en route back to Washington, had Mitchell and the White House counsel, John Ehrlichman, draft a statement backing down even further.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
This is a nice, rare moment of Cipher actually backing down slightly.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
Still, manager Aaron Boone isn't backing down.
—Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Rather than backing down, entrepreneurs are pushing forward.
—Anna Horndahl, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
The President, en route back to Washington, had Mitchell and the White House counsel, John Ehrlichman, draft a statement backing down even further.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
This is a nice, rare moment of Cipher actually backing down slightly.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
Still, manager Aaron Boone isn't backing down.
—Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Rather than backing down, entrepreneurs are pushing forward.
—Anna Horndahl, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backing down
Verb
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After backing out of Monday's Dawson's Creek cast reunion in New York City due to illness, James Van Der Beek still made a surprise appearance at the event in a sweet video message for attendees and his fellow cast members.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 Sep. 2025
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This could either result in investors backing out of purchasing the debt, or demanding higher interest payments to offset the risk.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Yes, the members of season 27’s cast are almost all playing the game poorly, backing off from big moves out of fear or changing their minds at the last moment to vote out their own allies.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
27 Sep. 2025
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And yet governments and corporations are now backing off on previous climate goals, and the planet's annual greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb.—
Alec Luhn,
Scientific American,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Backing down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backing%20down. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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