backtrack

He has previously issued apocalyptic warnings to Tehran, only to later backtrack by saying diplomacy was underway.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

But the legal arguments in this letter were so weak that no one pursued them seriously, and the Department of Justice later had to backtrack the arguments in court.

From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2026

Bozell appeared to later backtrack, saying the US government respected the independence and findings of South Africa's judiciary.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

“The President has this tendency to TACO,” he said, referring to Trump’s tendency to announce tough policies only to backtrack on those announcements later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

Normally this wouldn't be a problem at all, but with my extremely rough navigation, I could easily end up at the lip of one of them and have to backtrack.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Things have changed in the half-century since “Forever…” was published, even subtracting the years the series backtracks.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2025

To do so, the complex moves down DNA chains in one direction, but backtracks in certain scenarios.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2024

The resulting protests — the largest since a cost of living crisis last July — have sparked a series of backtracks from President Laurentino Cortizo.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

Playing over the game, the result makes perfect sense: White plays way better than Black, with simple, strong developing moves while Carlsen wastes time and backtracks to no obvious purpose.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 18, 2023

Garden paths can turn the experience of reading from an effortless glide through a sentence to a tedious two-step of little backtracks.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

The United Kingdom, for instance, considered doing away with checks entirely in 2009, but ultimately backtracked after pensioners protested to members of Parliament.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

But Carney backtracked two days later, saying the ceremony had been called off "at the request of the United States."

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

Millions of exhaust-belching motorbikes zip through Hanoi's narrow streets every day fuelling its chronic air pollution, but authorities have backtracked from an ambitious plan to ban them in favour of electric two-wheelers.

From Barron's ● May 19, 2026

He accepted it, then backtracked when Credit Suisse countered by proposing to launch a fund for him with his old trading team.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

They backtracked and camped in the actual road and when they went on in the morning the macadam had cooled.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

Earlier this year, it did indeed look like the administration would block mFlusiva; the FDA initially refused to review Moderna’s application, backtracking only after experts and the company pushed back.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

"For them, backtracking would mean losing their pioneering advantage."

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Happily, the backtracking and throat-clearing ends a little less than halfway through, and from then on it’s all baseball.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

You have this breakup, and now she’s sort of backtracking like Elon Musk did.

From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2025

“We hate backtracking, but we’re not crazy … well, not that crazy. We were looking at how a levee disintegrates. It’s not often that you get to see something like that. It’s interesting.”

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith