as in to back out
to break a promise or agreement
if you back down about dinner again, I'm not going to agree to another date
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of back down
Related article After forcing Colombia to back down, White House claims America is respected again
The US is Colombia’s largest trading partner.
—
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, 28 Jan. 2025
The South American nation backed down from a confrontation over the deportation flights after Trump threatened to impose tough tariffs and other sanctions.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 27 Jan. 2025
Budapest's decision to back down on the sanctions may damage Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's relationship with Putin.
—Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro appears to have backed down from a heated – and very public – faceoff with U.S. President Donald Trump over deportation flights this past weekend.
—Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for back down 
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, 28 Jan. 2025
The South American nation backed down from a confrontation over the deportation flights after Trump threatened to impose tough tariffs and other sanctions.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 27 Jan. 2025
Budapest's decision to back down on the sanctions may damage Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's relationship with Putin.
—Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro appears to have backed down from a heated – and very public – faceoff with U.S. President Donald Trump over deportation flights this past weekend.
—Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for back down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back down
Verb
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Hoffman’s cruiser struck the driver side door of the Mercedes before Bell tried backing out.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
3 Feb. 2025
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Don't think this is the time to leave your plants back out on the porch.—
Remington Miller,
arkansasonline.com,
3 Feb. 2025
Verb
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There’s no Republican policy to address inflation, and indeed, the pressure is on the Federal Reserve to back off its monetary policy, which has reduced inflation from double digits to less than 3%.—
Steve Bousquet,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2025
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Democrats will bring forward legislation to lower costs if Trump doesn't back off the rest of his harmful trade war.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
4 Feb. 2025
Verb
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About 20 minutes later, the two cops out in front were joined by a third officer.—
Melody Chiu,
People.com,
7 Jan. 2025
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The judges avoid giving critiques to the girls this week but do talk among one another, which is kind of weird but also means that nobody gets to cop out of Rate-a-Queen and just imitate the judges.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
3 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The company last year issued a profit warning after it was hit by sliding sales in China and forced to recall 1.5 million vehicles due to potentially faulty brake systems developed by Continental.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
10 Feb. 2025
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Neighbors recalled the girl as cheerful and her parents as loving.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
9 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near back down
Cite this Entry
“Back down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20down. Accessed 14 Feb. 2025.
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