If you back off, you move away in order to avoid problems or a fight.
They backed off in horror. [VERBPARTICLE]
2. phrasal verb
If you back offfrom a claim, demand, or commitment that you made earlier, or if you back off it, you withdraw it.
A spokesman says the president has backed off from his threat to boycott the conference. [VERBPARTICLE + from]
The union has publicly backed off that demand. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
3. phrasal verb [usually imper]
If you tell someone to back off, you are telling them to stop interfering.
[informal]
Back off, Mom, I'm old enough to make my own decisions! [VERBPARTICLE]
See full dictionary entry for back
back off in British English
verb(adverb) informal
1. (intransitive)
to retreat
2. (transitive)
to abandon (an intention, objective, etc)
back off in American English
1.
to move back a short distance
2. Informal
back down
3. Informal
to refrain or cease from pursuing or annoying; lay off
See full dictionary entry for back
back off in the Oil and Gas Industry
(bæk ɔf)
Word forms: (present) backs off, (past) backed off, (perfect) backed off, (progressive) backing off
verb
(Extractive engineering: Field development, Drilling)
To back off a drill string is to unscrew parts of the drill string in a well.
COLLOCATIONS: ~ a drill string
When a drill string becomes stuck, it is often necessary to back off the string as deep as possible to recover as much of the string as possible.
Information about where the drill string is stuck may be used to decide where toback off the string if the deeper part cannot be recovered.
To back off a drill string is to unscrew parts of the drill string in a well.
Examples of 'back off' in a sentence
back off
Peering past his nose ring, the diminutive bartender didn't blink, and he didn't back off either.
J. A. Jance BREACH OF DUTY (1999)
All related terms of 'back off'
get off someone's back
to stop criticizing someone and leave them alone
to get off sb's back
If you tell someone to get off your back , you are telling them angrily to stop criticizing you or putting pressure on you.
off the back of a lorry
If someone says that something has fallen off the back of a lorry , or that they got something off the back of a lorry , they mean that they bought something that they knew was stolen .
like water off a duck's back
You say that criticism is like water off a duck's back or water off a duck's back to emphasize that it is not having any effect on the person being criticized .
be no skin off one's nose
to affect one not at all; be of no direct concern to one
Chinese translation of 'back off'
back off
vi
(= draw back) 退避 (tuìbì)
See back
Nearby words of
back off
back and forth
back away
back down
back off
back onto
back out
back pain
All related terms of 'back off'
back up
( support : statement, theory ) 证(證)实(實) zhèngshí ⇒ Her views are backed up by an official report on crime. → 一份官方犯罪报告证实了她的观点。 Yī fèn guānfāng fànzuì bàogào zhèngshíle tā de guāndiǎn.
back out
( withdraw ) 退出 tuìchū
back onto
背靠 bèikào
back down
做出让(讓)步 zuòchū ràngbù
back away
向后(後)退 xiàng hòu tuì
(phrasal verb)
Definition
to retreat
They backed off in horror.
Synonyms
recoil
go back
retire
He was wounded, but did not retire from the field.
withdraw
Troops withdrew from the country last March.
shrink back
She shrank back with an involuntary gasp.
move back
recede
As she receded into the distance he waved goodbye.
pull back
They were asked to pull back from their positions around the city.
back away
The girls hastily backed away.
draw back
I drew back with a horrified scream.
turn tail
See back
Additional synonyms
in the sense of back away
The girls hastily backed away.
Synonyms
move back,
go back,
retire,
withdraw,
shrink,
recede,
pull back,
back off,
recoil,
draw back,
give ground,
turn tail
in the sense of draw back
Definition
to move backwards
I drew back with a horrified scream.
Synonyms
recoil,
withdraw,
retreat,
shrink,
falter,
back off,
shy away,
flinch,
retract,
quail,
start back
in the sense of pull back
They were asked to pull back from their positions around the city.