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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Recent Examples of back down
Venice Doubles Down On Tourism Regulations Venice is not backing down.
—
Emese MacZko, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Having hit such heights, the opening months of Arne Slot’s tenure brought him back down to earth with a bump.
—James Pearce, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
Minnesota had established its identity as a tough, gritty team that didn't back down from anyone.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 18 Jan. 2025
All signs point toward the Eagles here but Jordan Love won't back down.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for back down 
Emese MacZko, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Having hit such heights, the opening months of Arne Slot’s tenure brought him back down to earth with a bump.
—James Pearce, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
Minnesota had established its identity as a tough, gritty team that didn't back down from anyone.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 18 Jan. 2025
All signs point toward the Eagles here but Jordan Love won't back down.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for back down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back down
Verb
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Walsh responded by making a trade with the Rams for elusive running back Wendell Tayler and drafting Roger Craig, a multipurpose back out of Nebraska.—
Mark Purdy,
The Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2025
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The Cubs would also hope to tease a little more velocity back out of Pressly, who has historically had strong ground-ball numbers, which would play well on a team with multiple Gold Glove defenders.—
Patrick Mooney,
The Athletic,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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In an interview with Fox News, the president again seemed to back off his earlier warnings that huge tariffs against China were coming.—
Andrew Ross Sorkin,
New York Times,
24 Jan. 2025
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The defender, who joined for £40m from Wolverhampton Wanderers, backed off Mateta before the opener.—
Roshane Thomas,
The Athletic,
19 Jan. 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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On Fan Duel’s flagship NBA show, Run it Back, Jordan recalled moments during the season when Jokić would request a song from their unofficial Denver Nugget’s locker room DJ, small forward Payton Watson.—
Marc Griffin,
VIBE.com,
17 Jan. 2025
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The full yellow gold execution beautifully recalled the original design language penned by Jorg Hysek in 1977.—
Allen Farmelo,
Robb Report,
17 Jan. 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 30 Jan. 2025.
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