back off
informal— phrasal verb with back uk/bæk/us/bæk/verb
to stop being involved in a situation, usually in order to allow other people to deal with it themselves:
She started to criticize me, then she suddenly backed off.
Just back off and let us do this on our own, will you?
B2 to move backwards away from someone, usually because you are frightened:
I saw the knife and backed off.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Abstaining and refraining
- abstain
- abstemious
- abstention
- abstinence
- beg off
- fast
- give
- give (sth) up
- give up sth
- hors de combat
- keep
- keep (sb/sth) out of sth
- not be in the business of sth idiom
- refrain
- step back
- stop
- stop short of sth idiom
- swear off sth
- touch
- wouldn't touch sth with a barge pole idiom
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Running away and escaping