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Think of two fighters facing one another, ready to start hitting each other. If one of them backs down, they step away from the other one, away from the fight. To back down means to reverse your direction. This can be literal, as in stepping back from someone. It is often figurative, though, and means to reverse your previous statements and support another one instead. For example, if you had been arguing that you deserved a raise, and your boss pointed out that you had been late to work almost every day, you might back down and stop arguing.

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14y ago

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