backs (up or away)

verb

present tense third-person singular of back (up or away)
as in withdraws

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for backs (up or away)
  1. withdraws
  2. retreats
  3. runs away
  4. recedes
  5. retires
  6. takes off
Verb
  • If a candidate withdraws after that July 13 deadline, the party does not have any way to nominate a replacement.
    — Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 6 July 2026
  • Al Gore, John McCain suspends his campaign for the Republican nomination for president, and Bill Bradley withdraws from the race for the Democratic nomination.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 July 2026
Definition of withdraws
Verb
  • After Will’s funeral, Alice retreats to her in-laws’ remote, dilapidated house, where, through the Necronomicon, a demonic spirit is unleashed and begins to turn the family members into Deadites.
    — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
  • When Aries pushes harder, Cancer retreats further, and neither feels understood.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 24 June 2026
Definition of retreats
Verb
  • And when the guy is maybe 20 meters away, the cameraman packs up the camera and runs away.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 July 2026
  • The title refers to a story-fable about a horse that runs away, only to turn up at a time of crisis.
    — Hillel Italie, Fortune, 1 June 2026
Definition of runs away
Verb
  • The common assumption is that love recedes visibly, through arguments or a loud rupture.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026
  • But, even with the end so near, my thoughts turn ahead to preparations for another trip when the water recedes a bit.
    — Ralph Tuttle, Outdoor Life, 25 June 2026
Definition of recedes
Verb
  • Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, the world’s first female prime minister, retires, and her daughter, Pres.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 July 2026
  • The short version is that after defeating the Kilrathi at the climax of Wing Commander 3, Mark Hamill’s Christopher Blair retires to a backwater world to live out a life in peace and obscurity.
    — Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 3 July 2026
Definition of retires
Verb
  • When Krem takes off in Kara’s spacecraft, a rusted hulk that’s like an interplanetary RV, and shoots her beloved dog Krypto with a lethal tranquilizer that will result in agonizing death in three days, Kara joins Ruthye on her revenge quest.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 24 June 2026
  • There is a similar silence after Maggie’s mother takes off.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
Definition of takes off
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.

Browse Nearby Words

backs (up)
backs (up or away)
back talk
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Cite this Entry

“Backs (up or away).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backs%20%28up%20or%20away%29. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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