as in to withdraw
to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable)
a change in the wind direction forced the firefighters to drop back
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Recent Examples of drop back
Daniels dropped back to pass and lasered the ball to Zach Ertz, his trusty tight end, whose second touchdown of the night was the game-winner.
—
Scott Thompson, Fox News, 30 Dec. 2024
Adult cougar population estimates hovered just under 2,000 in 2004, slowly climbed to just below 3,000 between 2014 and 2018, and dropped back to around 2,500 recently, according to a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources datasheet.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 13 Feb. 2025
Chloe Kim drops back in after break Chloe Kim has taken a full season off from competition after each of her Olympic halfpipe titles in 2018 and 2022, and each time quickly returned to the top of snowboarding.
—Nick Zaccardi, NBC News, 12 Feb. 2025
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped back to 4.65% from 4.79% late Tuesday, a considerable move.
—Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for drop back
Scott Thompson, Fox News, 30 Dec. 2024
Adult cougar population estimates hovered just under 2,000 in 2004, slowly climbed to just below 3,000 between 2014 and 2018, and dropped back to around 2,500 recently, according to a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources datasheet.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 13 Feb. 2025
Chloe Kim drops back in after break Chloe Kim has taken a full season off from competition after each of her Olympic halfpipe titles in 2018 and 2022, and each time quickly returned to the top of snowboarding.
—Nick Zaccardi, NBC News, 12 Feb. 2025
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped back to 4.65% from 4.79% late Tuesday, a considerable move.
—Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for drop back
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drop back
Verb
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But that means patients don’t have the usual right of a trial participant to withdraw from a study at any time, Johnson notes.—
Amber Dance,
Smithsonian Magazine,
7 Mar. 2025
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This is evident in the agency's recent decision under current leadership to withdraw several high-profile lawsuits alleging violations of consumer financial laws against Early Warning Services, the operator of Zelle, and major banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.—
Lenwood V. Long, Sr.,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Bell / Getty Images Stock futures initially surged on the report, then retreated.—
Rob Wile,
NBC News,
12 Mar. 2025
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As her star continued to rise in the country music genre and beyond, Dean retreated from the spotlight, but always supported her from afar.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA TODAY,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The deceleration is encouraging after fears in recent months that inflation had become entrenched and wasn’t falling back to target.—
Greg Iacurci,
CNBC,
12 Mar. 2025
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Less hiring will hurt many vulnerable older workers, who often keep working to supplement limited retirement savings, but also Black and Latino workers as well as disabled workers, who also have few savings to fall back on.—
Christian Weller,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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He’s also been New York’s savior during a turbulent period since Jan. 1, pulling out late-game heroics several times over the last few weeks to help the Knicks stay slotted in the No. 3 spot in the East.—
James L. Edwards III,
The Athletic,
8 Mar. 2025
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In the meantime, the trash the researchers pulled out of the nests is being recycled yet again—for an exhibition at the Museon-Omniversum in The Hague, Netherlands, on the Anthropocene, the name for the current era in which human behavior is substantially affecting the environment.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Rockwool Denmark retired on Day 1 after a collision during the opening race.—
Christina House,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2025
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Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have retired and Djokovic’s sand timer is running out of grain.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes,
16 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Drop back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drop%20back. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
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