Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of backing down. See back. verb
  • noun The act of backing down. See back, verb

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun colloq. A receding or giving up; a complete surrender.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An act of backing down; a retraction or withdrawal.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb move backwards from a certain position
  • verb remove oneself from an obligation
  • noun a retraction of a previously held position

Etymologies

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Examples

  • But Ms Robinson says she welcomed the rebate and the backdown is a sign Labor has renegaded on a 2007 election commitment to create an exploration incentive.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2010

  • But the backdown was a costly one, which Senator Brown was seeking a treasury briefing on, he said.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2010

  • But the backdown was a costly one, which Senator Brown was seeking a treasury briefing on, he said.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2010

  • The backdown is a tacit admission the free-to-air networks bungled their first attempt to pitch digital free-to-air TV to national consumers when they launched the Freeview brand in November.

    The Australian | News | 2009

  • Tony Abbott slams 'backdown' as Julia Gillard proposes 50-50 hospital deal JULIA Gillard is offering states a 50/50 split in paying for public hospital cost increases as she strips back the complex funding reforms attempted by her predecessor Kevin Rudd.

    NEWS.com.au | Top Stories 2011

  • The Buy American clause and the ensuing "backdown" by Congress meant nothing.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2009

  • But this August has been bad for the Obama administration primarily because the liberal knives have finally come out for him, with the maraschino cherry on top being the backdown on ozone regulations at month's end.

    Harry Shearer: The Two Things Obama Got Wrong Harry Shearer 2011

  • Recent legislation improving the status and rights of women led to protests and demonstrations in Bamako; the government was criticised for being pushed into even these very modest measures by donors and was forced to backdown and withdraw the legislation.

    Mali's women face an even tougher future Madeleine Bunting 2010

  • As an author living in Australia I despaired at the recent govt backdown on book imports.

    Update on the Amazon International Kindle and What It Means For Authors | The Creative Penn 2009

  • But this August has been bad for the Obama administration primarily because the liberal knives have finally come out for him, with the maraschino cherry on top being the backdown on ozone regulations at month's end.

    Harry Shearer: The Two Things Obama Got Wrong Harry Shearer 2011

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