as in retracting
to solemnly or formally reject or go back on (as something formerly adhered to)
I take back what I said about her: she's not the fool I thought she was
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Recent Examples of taking back
Whatever happens next, there is no taking back the decision to pull Kimmel’s show, for any length of time, in response to a coordinated, deliberate attack on him and ABC by Carr and right-wing influencers and podcasters.
—
Josef Adalian, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Josef Adalian, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for taking back
Verb
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Pressure campaigns have even led to traditional media outlets retracting previously positive reviews, further harming book sales and author reputations.—
Kevin Dickinson,
Big Think,
2 Sep. 2025
-
APPs excel in positioning patients, opening surgical sites, retracting tissues, and closing incisions.—
Richard Menger MD MPA,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Pederson had been withdrawing money from the Ronald McDonald House checking account and depositing it into her personal PayPal account, according to the criminal complaint.—
Karen Madden,
USA Today,
25 Sep. 2025
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Despite international aid groups withdrawing from Afghanistan due to the Taliban’s oppressive regime and its persecution of women and girls, the Reynolds chose to remain.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Even worse, Park and his conservative successors had been bolstered by the very imperial forces from which the South Koreans had hoped to escape, in exchange for renouncing their right to forgive and to hold Japan accountable.—
Eun A Jo,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Nov. 2022
Verb
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Cohen previously revealed there would be some new faces when the Bravo series returned, denying that the show would be cancelled.—
Rachel McRady,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
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What struck me most is how Bertrand has survived by embracing, not denying, its history.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In other words, the administration is overstating the evidence, the FDA is contradicting itself, and the scientists who actually did the research are saying something altogether different.—
Dr. Craig Spencer,
Time,
23 Sep. 2025
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The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, for instance, recently published their own guidelines contradicting the CDC’s stance on vaccination for children and during pregnancy, respectively.—
Yasmin Tayag,
The Atlantic,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Taking back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taking%20back. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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