backs away

verb

present tense third-person singular of back away
as in retreats
to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable) backed away from the snake very slowly and carefully

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of backs away As the boy backs away, the family's husky mix, Bella, is seen running over from across the yard and chasing the bear away, circling behind the animal and placing itself in between the bear and the boy. — Mason Leib, ABC News, 7 July 2026 For nearly two agonizing minutes, the bear runs toward her then backs away, rearing up on its hind legs several times, revealing its massive size. — Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2026 The team does an organized shuffle to get things in order, and almost everyone watching with me backs away slightly. — Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 6 May 2026 Jones then slows down to a walk as Prignano backs away. — Kellie Love, Hartford Courant, 3 Mar. 2026 In instances when an agent approaches, a patroller typically backs away while recording the interaction, video footage posted to Union del Barrio’s YouTube page shows. — Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026 The officer in the black beanie backs away with his gun drawn, though pointed down. — Yahya Abou-Ghazala, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026 Videos show an officer, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, backs away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand just before the first shot. — Hannah Fingerhut, Twin Cities, 25 Jan. 2026 Those detours foreshadowed Paris, where the styling again backs away from surface-level pink and redistributes it to the interior. — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 8 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backs away
  1. retreats
  2. withdraws
  3. drops back
  4. falls back
  5. retires
Verb
  • The mountain range is just a short distance from Balmoral, the Scottish castle and estate where the royal family annually retreats in late summer.
    — Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 28 July 2026
  • The footage then appears to show the person attempting to kick the sea lion again as the animal retreats from its resting spot.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 27 July 2026
Definition of retreats
Verb
  • Mei searches for community and purpose with the I Wor Kuen while Chris withdraws from daily life into increasingly Spartan spiritual practices.
    — Dylan Adamson, IndieWire, 21 July 2026
  • Something in-between In this scenario, the SEC withdraws from the House settlement — which created nationwide rules on revenue sharing and third-party payments to players — and sets its own rules on paying players.
    — Seth Emerson, New York Times, 21 July 2026
Definition of withdraws
Verb
  • After the front, the humidity drops back off the scale, meaning that Thursday and Friday will be very comfy and dry.
    — Terry Eliasen, CBS News, 18 May 2026
  • If the opposing quarterback drops back to pass, Downs can be effective, as well.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 20 Apr. 2026
Definition of drops back
Verb
  • If by some chance a hurricane wipes out several theaters and Brand New Day falls back to $280M — c’mon, that’s an awesome opening, and $20M ahead of No Way Home‘s start.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 31 July 2026
  • As with Fable 5, when Opus 5 declines a user’s request due to a safety concern, the API automatically falls back to another model, so the user gets an answer rather than an error.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 24 July 2026
Definition of falls back
Verb
  • Toyota recently launched a $25 billion, tender-offer buyback that retires about 7% of outstanding shares, one of the largest repurchases in Japanese history.
    — Tony Zhang, CNBC, 22 July 2026
  • Citation retires after the race with total earnings of $1,085,760.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026
Definition of retires

Browse Nearby Words

backs
backs away
backs down
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Cite this Entry

“Backs away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backs%20away. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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