back away
Idioms-
Walk backward, as in He cautiously backed away from the fire .
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Gradually retreat, withdraw, as in Since he couldn't convince his colleagues, he's backing away from his original idea . Both usages employ the verb back in the sense of “retreat,” dating from the late 1400s. Also see back down ; back out .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits,” a Meta spokeswoman said in a statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
"The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits."
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
A Meta spokeswoman told the BBC: "The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
But there have been some stumbling blocks: Most notably, OpenAI had to back away from a checkout feature that allowed purchasing through ChatGPT — apparently, the feature failed to work all the time.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 25, 2026
I back away as the Sky God grows nearer.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
