back out
Britishverb
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Move or retreat backwards without turning; same as back away , def. 1.
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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 .
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.
A year later, she reached back out to Epstein.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
And what happens if a developer comes in and starts a project anyway, only to ultimately back out?
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
“We’re not going to allow it to go back out again,” library manager Michelle Hudson said, joking that staff did not want to wait another 150 years for its next return.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
He then dashed back out to sea to rescue her daughter.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
And I’m so frightened that none of them will ever come back out again that it leaves me sick.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
