DROPPED BACK Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

dropped back

verb

past tense of drop back

as in withdrew

to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable) a change in the wind direction forced the firefighters to drop back

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of dropped back In his last full season in 2024, Burrow dropped back a team-record 725 times. — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026 With nine seconds to play, Underwood dropped back to pass, scrambled and heaved a last-ditch pass that sailed out of bounds. — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026 Taylor dropped back three steps and arced a jump ball into the corner over Barron and into the mitts of Sheppard, who appeared to scrape both toes along the turf before the Broncos’ stopper shoved him out of bounds. — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 26 Aug. 2026 The Twins came into the series tied with Texas for the American League's third wild card but have dropped back into a traffic jam outside the final postseason berth. — ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026 Tua Tagovailoa dropped back, looked left and fired down the left sideline to Drake London. — Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 20 Aug. 2026 An underwhelming and nearly green-less teaser first dropped back in March to the enormous groans of Green Lantern faithful everywhere. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 16 Aug. 2026 Patrick Mahomes took a snap Monday and dropped back before looking left. — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 11 Aug. 2026 Haynes took the shotgun snap at the 10 and dropped back to the 14 before shooting up the middle, pump faking around the seven and diving into the end zone for the game-winning score. — Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dropped back

Verb

One candidate for the job, Tigers general manager Jeff Greenberg, publicly withdrew from consideration last week.

— Max Bultman, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Ingebrigtsen won the 5,000 on opening night but withdrew from the shorter race, saying his fitness wasn't good enough for two races so close together in the wake of Achilles surgery earlier this year.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Sep. 2026

Definition of withdrew

Verb

On Wednesday, all of the other support acts booked for Sheeran’s tour, including Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe pulled out of the tour in support of Macklemore.

— Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2026
Suleiman Abu Hmeida, a member of the Emergency Response Rooms, said that rescuers pulled out 82 bodies by Wednesday afternoon.

— Yasir Abdallah, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of pulled out

Verb

Family offices were able to make opportunistic plays in oil and gas in the years after the Covid pandemic as traditional investors backed away from the sector due to pressure from environmentally conscious stakeholders.

— Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 10 Sep. 2026
And the Justice Department has backed away from the federal government’s long-standing interpretation of a landmark Supreme Court ruling protecting the right of disabled people to receive services in their communities.

— Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC news, 8 Sep. 2026