as in withdrawing
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 backing away
Her announcement touched off a new round of progressive candidates backing away from the Iron Dome.
—
Andrew Lapin, Sun Sentinel, 20 Apr. 2026
Video footage from the apartment complex showed Kirkland speaking to several people in the Jeep before backing away and collapsing, the court document said.
—Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 9 Apr. 2026
In that interaction, forehead-to-forehead with Ayers and then slowly backing away, back to his bench, Hurley never blinked.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 31 Mar. 2026
As officers yell for Martinez to stop, Stevens pulls his weapon and rapidly fires three shots through the window before quickly backing away.
—Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026
As officers yell for Martinez to stop, Stevens pulls his weapon and rapidly fires three shots through the window before quickly backing away.
—ABC News, 7 Mar. 2026
Rather than backing away from these practices, the administration has now publicly doubled down.
—Amanda Cats-Baril, Twin Cities, 4 Mar. 2026
The hopes of people opposed to ICE’s plans rested on the property owners of the warehouses backing away from the deals — but that has failed to happen.
—Lautaro Grinspan, AJC.com, 25 Feb. 2026
Finally, the city is now backing away from its idea to charge to drive into Mission Bay Park and is instead looking at other options for solving its budget crisis.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
Andrew Lapin, Sun Sentinel, 20 Apr. 2026
Video footage from the apartment complex showed Kirkland speaking to several people in the Jeep before backing away and collapsing, the court document said.
—Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 9 Apr. 2026
In that interaction, forehead-to-forehead with Ayers and then slowly backing away, back to his bench, Hurley never blinked.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 31 Mar. 2026
As officers yell for Martinez to stop, Stevens pulls his weapon and rapidly fires three shots through the window before quickly backing away.
—Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026
As officers yell for Martinez to stop, Stevens pulls his weapon and rapidly fires three shots through the window before quickly backing away.
—ABC News, 7 Mar. 2026
Rather than backing away from these practices, the administration has now publicly doubled down.
—Amanda Cats-Baril, Twin Cities, 4 Mar. 2026
The hopes of people opposed to ICE’s plans rested on the property owners of the warehouses backing away from the deals — but that has failed to happen.
—Lautaro Grinspan, AJC.com, 25 Feb. 2026
Finally, the city is now backing away from its idea to charge to drive into Mission Bay Park and is instead looking at other options for solving its budget crisis.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backing away
Verb
-
Slovenia began preemptively withdrawing all HiPP products from shelves of Spar and other supermarkets, its health inspectorate said.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 Apr. 2026
-
After withdrawing their endorsement of Swalwell, the California Teacher’s Association put its support behind Steyer, a sure blow to Porter, who has also sought to win the support of unions.—
Douglas Schoen,
Oc Register,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Glaciers all over the world -- especially in Antarctica -- are also retreating at a rapid pace, recent research shows.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The alarmed father then began retreating while shouting for their daughter to drive away.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Baker either avoided directly answering any questions related to the Massachusetts political arena, falling back on his new role at the NCAA for taking him away from the Bay State.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
23 Apr. 2026
-
The Citi team, led by Max Layton and Francisco Martoccia, would then see Brent crude prices averaging around $110 this quarter before falling back to $80 in the fourth quarter.—
Brian Sullivan,
CNBC,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Madrid Open is losing some star power with Carlos Alcaraz joining Novak Djokovic in pulling out of the upcoming clay-court tournament Friday.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Apr. 2026
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Regarding his mother, Peltz Beckham accused Victoria of abruptly pulling out of making wife Nicola's wedding dress, as well as dancing inappropriately at the wedding ceremony.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Longhorns are the one team in the Final Four that has had a two-game losing streak, dropping back-to-back games to LSU and South Carolina in mid-January.—
David Brandt,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Last week, the quarterback shared a video of himself dropping back to throw on his official Instagram account.—
Pete Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Topal is considering retiring this year.—
Audrey Pachuta,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Apr. 2026
-
Jordan Leasure entered and threw a wild pitch to score Gelof and make it 7-4 before retiring Jacob Wilson on a foul popup.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
20 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Backing away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backing%20away. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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