back down

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back down (third-person singular simple present backs down, present participle backing down, simple past and past participle backed down)

1. (idiomatic) To take a less aggressive position in a conflict than one previously has or has planned to.

   I was about to sue them, but I had to back down.

   I was going to sue them, but now I'm going to have to back down.

   • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, "Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders," New York Times (retrieved 21 June 2013):

     By the time politicians in several cities backed down on Tuesday and announced that they would cut or consider reducing fares, the demonstrations had already morphed into a more sweeping social protest, with marchers waving banners carrying slogans like “The people have awakened.”

• give in
• retract

• backdown
• back into
• back off
• back out
• back up