chicken (out)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for chicken (out)
Verb
  • This was a month for big festivals, with two weekends of Coachella and one of Stagecoach all back to back out in Indio, Calif., and of just-as-big tour kickoffs, with both our Greatest Pop Star of 2024 and our Greatest Pop Star of the entire 21st Century launching their most recent treks.
    Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 1 May 2025
  • The Mets backed out due to concern over a hip issue with Gomez.
    Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • But the financial and stock markets have not fully recovered from rising fears around the globe that Trump will not back down from slapping higher levies on foreign nations.
    Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 30 Apr. 2025
  • Many business owners back down at the first sign of conflict, undermining their credibility.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • About 20 minutes later, the two cops out in front were joined by a third officer.
    Melody Chiu, People.com, 7 Jan. 2025
  • The judges avoid giving critiques to the girls this week but do talk among one another, which is kind of weird but also means that nobody gets to cop out of Rate-a-Queen and just imitate the judges.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 3 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • These thick, long-lasting steamers will never wimp out mid-shower, and the cute packaging sure doesn't hurt either.
    Annie Blackman, Allure, 16 Mar. 2025
  • There is a chance that central banks will wimp out and blink, and not be willing to fight inflation.
    Nouriel Roubini, Time, 13 Oct. 2022
Verb
  • The corporate elite are playing nice, hoping that doing so will buy them time before President Donald Trump backs off on his profit-eroding, stock-depressing tariffs.
    Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 30 Apr. 2025
  • The other benefit of Amad playing at right wing-back is his understanding of when to jump up the pitch and when to back off.
    Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Chicken (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chicken%20%28out%29. Accessed 10 May. 2025.

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