back away

verb

backed away; backing away; backs away

intransitive verb

: to move away (as from a stand on an issue or from a commitment)

Examples of back away in a Sentence

backed away from the snake very slowly and carefully
Recent Examples on the Web Now that President Joe Biden is pressuring Israel to back away from an all-out invasion of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, some supporters of Israel feel betrayed. Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 21 May 2024 Advertisement But Palomar’s lawyers noted that the board has backed away from any attempt at sanctions, which could range from taking away committee assignments to ending reimbursements for travel and other expenses. Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 May 2024 Thiel and some other tech leaders backed away from Trump after the tumult of his presidency and in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that attempted to halt the certification of the 2020 election results. Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2024 By cowardly backing away from Hamas because of a few votes. Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 9 May 2024 The White House has been considering its options for executive actions since Republicans in Congress backed away from a Senate compromise earlier this year on legislation that would have empowered the administration to turn away migrants seeking asylum when certain thresholds were reached. Deepa Shivaram, NPR, 8 May 2024 The deputies backed away toward the street while directing him to drop the knife and surrender. Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 8 May 2024 But, given the uncertainty around the issue, social-media companies have lately backed away from policing lies on their platforms. Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024 By the afternoon, Johnson backed away from the idea. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 19 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'back away.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of back away was in 1833

Dictionary Entries Near back away

Cite this Entry

“Back away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/back%20away. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

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