Also spelled back-down

US /ˈbækˌdaʊn/ UK /ˈbækdaʊn/
noun Freq #470691

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    an act of withdrawing a demand, threat, claim, or previously stated position

    The compromise was widely seen as a backdown by both sides.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · an act of withdrawing a... withdrawalretreatretraction
More climbdown
Opposites
Word family
Related forms back downclimbdown

Etymology

A noun formed from the phrasal verb back down, 'to withdraw from a position or confrontation.' The closed and hyphenated noun spellings have both been used, while the verb remains two words.

Topics

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