as in to back down
to break a promise or agreement
you'd better not back off on your promise to do all the planning for the big dance
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of back off
Creighton rebounded a UConn miss with about 7 seconds left and a 7-point lead, and the Huskies backed off, allowing the Bluejays to dribble out the clock.
—
Ralph D. Russo, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
There has never been reason to think, and there certainly is no reason to think now, that appeasing Putin is going to lead to him backing off from these grander schemes.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 Mar. 2025
Instead of rimming it up the boards to a teammate, the puck ricocheted straight back off the end boards.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 14 Mar. 2025
The Ontario premier briefly vowed to impose a 25 percent surcharge on electricity for three states last week but backed off from the effort after Trump threatened to heighten levies on the nation during his April 2 announcement of reciprocal tariffs.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Ralph D. Russo, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
There has never been reason to think, and there certainly is no reason to think now, that appeasing Putin is going to lead to him backing off from these grander schemes.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 Mar. 2025
Instead of rimming it up the boards to a teammate, the puck ricocheted straight back off the end boards.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 14 Mar. 2025
The Ontario premier briefly vowed to impose a 25 percent surcharge on electricity for three states last week but backed off from the effort after Trump threatened to heighten levies on the nation during his April 2 announcement of reciprocal tariffs.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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Inflation could rise starting in a few months and then move back down toward our target possibly as early as by the end of this year.—
Quartz Staff,
Quartz,
14 Apr. 2025
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That said, The Boss isn’t backing down entirely.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
12 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Dave didn’t want to go back out.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
23 Mar. 2025
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And the new Bet Back Token gives customers a chance to back out of a bad bet.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
21 Mar. 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
Cite this Entry
“Back off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20off. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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