as in to chicken (out)
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Recent Examples of wimp out
Some plants wimp out when temperatures soar—but not these heat-tolerant perennials.
—
Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 6 June 2025
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
Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 6 June 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wimp out
Verb
-
Negotiations have been stalled for months, and neither side appears close to backing down.—
Grant Stringer,
Mercury News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Rodman, like many Black women in her position, wasn’t backing down.—
Kimberly Wilson,
Essence,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Fresh off a four-game road trip, Boston now will head back out for a two-city back-to-back, visiting Brooklyn on Friday and Chicago on Saturday.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
22 Jan. 2026
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With snowfall right around the corner, people may be digging back out the snow shovels and snow blowers to ensure driveways, sidewalks and porches are clear.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But the president backed off after appeals from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives, including Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO whose family name is attached to the Oakland children’s hospital.—
Julia Prodis Sulek,
Mercury News,
27 Jan. 2026
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Healthy cells that still have their MGMT gene intact will simply pluck the methyl group back off.—
Isabella Backman,
Hartford Courant,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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On Thursday, there were 652 officers on the force, with nearly 100 cops out on some kind of administrative or medical leave.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
8 Aug. 2025
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But with that brief wave of hope came new footage on Twitter every night of the NYPD acting like bad cops out of a Harvey Keitel flick: cops harassing peaceful crowds, cops kettling activists, cops literally driving a car into a crowd of protestors.—
Maris Kreizman,
Rolling Stone,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wimp out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wimp%20out. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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