Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A retreat from an earlier position or opinion; a backing down.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Descent; the abandonment of a high position taken on some point or question, when it has been found untenable or unacceptable. [Colloq.]

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

  • noun a retraction of a previously held position.
  • noun the sixty-third year of human life.

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

  • noun Alternative form of climb down.

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

  • verb come down
  • noun a retraction of a previously held position

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Prosecutors, however, ended up finding no evidence of any bank accounts, leading Renault to climb-down on its accusations.

    Renault Security Agent Gives Name of Espionage Informant Sebastian Moffett 2011

  • The MRRT is a climb-down from a previous version of the tax which was vociferously opposed by the country's mining sector, in a campaign which contributed to the internal party revolt against former prime minister Kevin Rudd last year.

    Australia's Mining Tax Clears Political Hurdle David Winning 2011

  • It's encouraging that the Basel rule makers are considering even a limited climb-down from pushing banks into government bonds, but the whole policy needs revision.

    Basel's Sovereign-Debt Bubble 2011

  • Nope, Gingrey was just forced into a humiliating climb-down:

    Matthew Yglesias » The Wrath of Rush 2009

  • Despite Angela Merkel's climb-down last week, contagion effects have spread across the euro zone, notably to Spain, where bond yields have risen sharply.

    Don't Believe These Greek Myths Simon Nixon 2011

  • Yet rarely have protests been so bold, or appeared to prompt an official climb-down so quickly, as they did in Dalian.

    China Bows to Plant Protesters James T. Areddy 2011

  • The climb-down over the payments came after Lloyds and its rivals lost a legal effort two weeks ago to appeal new regulations requiring them to review their PPI sales and contact customers about possible refunds.

    U.K. Banks Face Insurance Headache Margot Patrick 2011

  • Yesterday's Gitmo climb-down came after the Supreme Court rejected appeals from three Guantanamo detainees challenging their indefinite detention.

    Vindicating Guantanamo 2011

  • The White House's climb-down on tightening rules for levels of smog-forming ozone, announced Friday, came the same day as dreadful August jobs data.

    Obama Burns Gas Drillers On Ozone Liam Denning 2011

  • While the application submitted on Sept. 24 by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas remains under consideration in the Council, the French understood that a climb-down to a General Assembly vote granting observer status was the more viable scenario.

    At the U.N., a French Twist Jonathan Schanzer 2011

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