TOOK BACK Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

took back

verb

past tense of take back

as in retracted

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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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 took back Croatia took back possession to continue its offensive press but struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities. — Monica Alba, NBC news, 24 June 2026 Some of the companies hit hardest by selling Tuesday took back some of those losses before the market opened. — ABC News, 24 June 2026 One of those picks was off MVP Matt Stafford, by the way, which Jackson took back to the Panthers’ end zone. — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 11 June 2026 In April, Ukraine actually took back more land than Russia seized for the first time since 2024. — Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 4 June 2026 Four years earlier, Lawler, a former state assemblyman, was elected when Republicans took back control of the House. — Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 11 Apr. 2026 Frost forwards Katy Knoll and Klára Hymlárová were moving toward the Sirens’ goal when both took back-to-back hits from New York players. — Theodore Tollefson, Twin Cities, 11 Apr. 2026 On Thursday, the Supreme Court took back the case and set an accelerated schedule for the coming week, when prosecutors and defense attorneys can argue over whether to finish the analysis. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2026 Republicans took back the state House, ending the Democratic trifecta in Michigan and opening a door to more cash-for-jobs deal scrutiny. — CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for took back

Verb

Sign Up for Our Free Daily Newsletter A controversial 2024 study that some vaccine skeptics used to argue that millions of people likely died as a result of COVID vaccines has been retracted over misinformation and issues with the research.

— Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026
Rumors swirled about Alito’s retirement plans after NPR published and then retracted an article by reporter Nina Totenberg that Alito would be retiring from his role on the bench at the end of the court’s 2025-26 term.

— Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of retracted

Verb

But cell phone footage captured by bystanders contradicted that account.

— Rebecca Schneid, Time, 12 Aug. 2026
The defense wrote that Lee’s statements in the recorded phone calls directly contradicted the defensive theory and strategy that Gonzalez was the person who caused all the injuries and the death of the child.

— Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of contradicted

Verb

Prices collapsed after 1986, domestic production was increasingly exempted, and the tax was generating almost nothing by the time it was repealed.

— Tibor Besedeš, The Conversation, 12 Aug. 2026
Parents in the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania drew national attention in June when yelling broke out at a board meeting after the district repealed a policy that had given families a choice to opt out.

— Stephanie Cook Broadhurst, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026