Synonyms of falls back

falls back

verb

present tense third-person singular of fall back

as in withdraws

to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable)

resistance from native forces was greater than expected, and the invading army was forced to fall back

Synonyms & Similar Words

• withdraws
• retreats
• pulls out
• drops back
• gives way
• retires
• backs away
• gives ground
• flees
• loses ground
• recedes
• evacuates
• flies
• pulls away
• leaves
• chickens (out)
• climbs down
• recoils
• shrinks
• flinches
• backs down
• goes
• bows out
• detaches
• departs
• disengages
• abandons
• vacates
• quits
• backtracks
• backpedals
• disentangles

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• advances
• breasts
• faces
• confronts
• defies
• dares
• braves
• brazens
• outbraves
• beards

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of falls back

Any good striker should be looking to pounce on a ball that falls back into the danger area, but the numbers suggest the rate of goals scored via rebounds looks particularly high compared with previous tournaments. — Mark Carey, New York Times, 24 June 2026

The endeavor calls for an untested spacecraft built by the Arizona company Katalyst Space Technologies to rendezvous and dock with Swift — something the observatory was never designed to do — before the observatory falls back to Earth. — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 19 June 2026

When the plane’s nose falls back toward the runway, the plane catches fire and goes up in flames. — Francie Ebert, NBC news, 8 June 2026

Indeed, no matter the city problem, Johnson seemingly falls back on claims of a lack of state financial support. — Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026

The result is a fashion movie that takes the art at its center for granted, a work of radical narrative freedom which falls back on last season’s tropes. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 22 May 2026

The trajectory The mission is on a flight path that keeps the spacecraft in Earth's gravitational influence past the moon, then falls back to the planet for splashdown. — Brendan Byrne, NPR, 2 Apr. 2026

Really, even if tracking is massively off, and Project Hail Mary falls back to a $50M opening in North America, va bene. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 19 Mar. 2026

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