sit back
Britishverb
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Relax, as in Now that the work's finished, we can just sit back .
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Refrain from interfering or taking part, as in Mom and Dad just sat back and watched Meg try to decide whether or not she should tell on her friends . [Mid-1900s] Also see sit by .
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.
With your feet flat on the floor and your back straight — and arms still crossed over your chest — stand all the way up and sit back down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
But we can do more than sit back and get bitten.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
While the labor market “isn’t falling apart,” Pride said, he also views the situation as one “where the Fed can’t sit back and relax.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Davji Bhimji Atellah, KMPDU's secretary general, said the union "will not sit back and watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony for a lethal pathogen that we did not generate".
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Then Sean motioned him to sit back down while he got his bag.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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.
