backtrack

[bak-trak]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR backtrack ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to return over the same course or route.

to withdraw from an undertaking, position, etc.; reverse a policy.

Origin of backtrack

An Americanism dating back to 1715–25; back² + track

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for backtrack

retract, reverse, about-face, rethink, back, change, withdraw, retrograde, retreat, double, return, retrocede

Examples from the Web for backtrack

Contemporary Examples of backtrack

That will be immensely difficult if Mr. Modi continues to backtrack on economic reform.
John Kerry Just Visited. But Should We Just Forget About India?
Tunku Varadarajan
August 3, 2014
“The amount of time you spend at the gym is not enough time to backtrack in your waist training,” she says.
Waist Training: Can You Cinch Your Waist Thin?
DailyBurn
July 18, 2014
As a wave of revulsion spread across the internet, he began to backtrack.
British Politician Threatens To Punch Muslim Woman in the Throat
Nico Hines
June 20, 2014
Words just spill out of her mouth too quickly and she has to backtrack.
Interview: Kristen Bell, Voiceover Queen, On ‘Frozen,’ ‘Veronica Mars,’ & More
Andrew Romano
December 18, 2013
He tried to backtrack and get the last words that Crowley should have given him.
Yes, The Debate Moderator Screwed Up. That's Life.
Megan McArdle
October 17, 2012

Historical Examples of backtrack

To-morrow I'll sell the grub and backtrack to the coast to guard it.
The Trail of a Sourdough
May Kellogg Sullivan
Loring realized he had made a mistake and tried to backtrack.
Danger in Deep Space
Carey Rockwell
Following their backtrack through the forest, therefore, they proceeded towards the place where they had left their horses.
Bruin
Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for backtrack

backtrack

verb (intr)

to return by the same route by which one has come

to retract or reverse one's opinion, action, policy, etc

Derived Formsbacktracking, noun

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

Word Origin and History for backtrack

"retrace one's steps," figuratively, by 1896, from literal sense, with reference to hunted foxes, from back (adv.) + track (v.). Related: Backtracked; backtracking.