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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Recent Examples of back off
But even as many bitcoin enthusiasts expressed frustration with Trump’s meme coin, none of the conference attendees interviewed by NBC News suggested there was anything to be done about it other than to try to persuade Trump to back off.
—
David Ingram, NBC news, 31 May 2025
The message spread further when President Trump took to Truth Social to tell the company to back off.
—Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
Economists, for now, are not expecting a recession this year now that Trump has backed off his highest tariffs.
—Lisa Kailai Han,sawdah Bhaimiya, CNBC, 21 May 2025
After a call between President Trump and Mr. Putin on Monday, the White House backed off its demand that Russia declare an immediate cease-fire.
—Jeanna Smialek, New York Times, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
David Ingram, NBC news, 31 May 2025
The message spread further when President Trump took to Truth Social to tell the company to back off.
—Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
Economists, for now, are not expecting a recession this year now that Trump has backed off his highest tariffs.
—Lisa Kailai Han,sawdah Bhaimiya, CNBC, 21 May 2025
After a call between President Trump and Mr. Putin on Monday, the White House backed off its demand that Russia declare an immediate cease-fire.
—Jeanna Smialek, New York Times, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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Deutsche Bank's Binky Chadha is bullish again, confident that the Trump administration will continue to back down on tariffs.—
Sarah Min,
CNBC,
3 June 2025
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Kumar’s departure comes as Denver faces a budget crisis that prompted city leadership to back down from an effort to give raises to Johnston’s appointees.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
3 June 2025
Verb
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Esther has a steep driveway that continuously triggers Subaru’s Reverse Automatic Braking (RAB) system when backing out of her driveway.—
Michael Harley,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
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The voracious pachyderm finally backed out of the store, a bag of snacks still clasped in his trunk.—
Chelsea Chan,
NBC news,
5 June 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 17 Jun. 2025.
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