as in retreats
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 backs away
Jones then slows down to a walk as Prignano backs away.
—
Kellie Love, Hartford Courant, 3 Mar. 2026
In instances when an agent approaches, a patroller typically backs away while recording the interaction, video footage posted to Union del Barrio’s YouTube page shows.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
The officer in the black beanie backs away with his gun drawn, though pointed down.
—Yahya Abou-Ghazala, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
Videos show an officer, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, backs away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand just before the first shot.
—Hannah Fingerhut, Twin Cities, 25 Jan. 2026
Those detours foreshadowed Paris, where the styling again backs away from surface-level pink and redistributes it to the interior.
—Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 8 Nov. 2025
Willow begins to whimper, and backs away from the door—but sits promptly down, still staring at it.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
Finally, the board will have the good sense to just snap their host laptop shut, but not before a wickedly riotous 10 minutes or so in which absolutely no one backs away from the keyboard.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
At first, the bison ignores him, but eventually approaches the man, who quickly backs away to keep a safe distance.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 24 July 2025
Kellie Love, Hartford Courant, 3 Mar. 2026
In instances when an agent approaches, a patroller typically backs away while recording the interaction, video footage posted to Union del Barrio’s YouTube page shows.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
The officer in the black beanie backs away with his gun drawn, though pointed down.
—Yahya Abou-Ghazala, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
Videos show an officer, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, backs away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand just before the first shot.
—Hannah Fingerhut, Twin Cities, 25 Jan. 2026
Those detours foreshadowed Paris, where the styling again backs away from surface-level pink and redistributes it to the interior.
—Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 8 Nov. 2025
Willow begins to whimper, and backs away from the door—but sits promptly down, still staring at it.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
Finally, the board will have the good sense to just snap their host laptop shut, but not before a wickedly riotous 10 minutes or so in which absolutely no one backs away from the keyboard.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
At first, the bison ignores him, but eventually approaches the man, who quickly backs away to keep a safe distance.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 24 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backs away
Verb
-
Around the world, spas are often physically inaccessible, retreats off-limits by design, and practitioners limited in their ability and training to see disabled bodies as deserving of the restoration everyone so desperately needs.—
Sophie Morgan,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Mar. 2026
-
But the novel ultimately retreats from these complicating questions.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
If the Pentagon withdraws support, the Scouts would have to scramble to replace medical care, transportation and other emergency services.—
Graham Smith,
NPR,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Antonio Delgado withdraws from New York governor race after Mamdani backs Hochul.—
,
FOXNews.com,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Temperatures are likely to remain warm during the day, though forecasts show possible snow showers early Thursday night as the low drops back below freezing to the upper 20s.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
8 Mar. 2026
-
The 54-year-old comedian with a beard full of gray stubble drops back to pass, launching a tight spiral underneath SoFi’s massive technicolor halo scoreboard hovering above a sea of empty stands.—
Deputy Entertainment,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
This means people will lose an hour of sleep, but daylight hours also will increase in Indiana until the clock falls back again in early November.—
Marina Johnson,
IndyStar,
7 Mar. 2026
-
In the process of watering the seed in, some of the loose soil dredged up by the disks falls back into the slits, covering the seed.—
David Beaulieu,
The Spruce,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The most common strategy seems to be doing Roth conversions during the later stages of employment, particularly if one spouse retires before the other so family income decreases.—
Liz Weston,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Mar. 2026
-
The average American worker retires at age 62, according to to survey data from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Backs away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backs%20away. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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