back off

B b

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [bak awf, of]
- /bæk ɔf, ɒf/
- /bæk ɒf/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [bak awf, of]
- /bæk ɔf, ɒf/

Definitions of back off words

phrasal verb back off If you back off, you move away in order to avoid problems or a fight. 3
phrasal verb back off If you back off from a claim, demand, or commitment that you made earlier, or if you back off it, you withdraw it. 3
phrasal verb back off If you tell someone to back off, you are telling them to stop interfering. 3
verb back off to retreat 3
verb back off to abandon (an intention, objective, etc) 3
noun back off to move back a short distance 3

See all 68 definitions of back off

Information block about the term

Origin of back off

First appearance:

before 1000

One of the 6% oldest English words

before 1000; Middle English bak, Old English bæc back of the body; cognate with Old Frisian bek, Old Saxon, Old Norse bak; perhaps < Indo-European *bhogo- bending; cf. bacon

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Back off

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Back off

back off popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 100% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

back off usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for back off

verb back off

balk — If you balk at something, you definitely do not want to do it or to let it happen.
back down — If you back down, you withdraw a claim, demand, or commitment that you made earlier, because other people are strongly opposed to it.
withdraw — to draw back, away, or aside; take back; remove: She withdrew her hand from his. He withdrew his savings from the bank.
abandon — If you abandon a place, thing, or person, you leave the place, thing, or person permanently or for a long time, especially when you should not do so.
surrender — to yield (something) to the possession or power of another; deliver up possession of on demand or under duress: to surrender the fort to the enemy; to surrender the stolen goods to the police.

All 9 Synonyms of back off