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back out

SEE SYNONYMS FOR back out ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

(intr, adverb often foll by of) to withdraw (from an agreement, etc)

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Words nearby back out

back office, back of one's hand, back of one's mind, back on one's feet, back order, back out, backpack, back-paddle, back pass, back passage, back-patting
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Words related to back out

cancel, back down, surrender, renege, give up, avoid, chicken out, cop out, recant, resign, scratch, welsh, back pedal, beg off, go back on, throw in the towel, weasel out, worm out

Example sentences from the Web for back out

  • The Baronet had rather cooled on the subject of mounting Monsieur, and thought to pave the way for a back-out.

    Ask Momma|R. S. Surtees

  • Accordingly, the back-out advice was adopted, and we retreated over the North Bridge, about a mile from the common.

    The Yankee Tea-party |Henry C. Watson

Idioms and Phrases with back out

back out
1

Move or retreat backwards without turning; same as back away, def. 1.

2

Also, back out of something. Withdraw from a situation, or break an agreement or engagement. For example, After the announcement appeared in the papers, Mary found it doubly difficult to back out of her engagement to Todd. [Early 1800s] Also see go back on.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.