backtrack

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

Last week, the NUS handed in a petition signed by 13,000 students calling on the government to backtrack.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 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

Or, maybe it’s something I should’ve Googled to find out the answer myself—but it’s too late to backtrack now.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

The first half of the novel backtracks from the discovery of Pam’s body to the graduation party nine months prior, when each Bishop sister is struggling with serious financial hardship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2025

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

From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2024

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

A sharp cooling of inflation hints at an easier road for Bullock, after Lowe's controversy-filled legacy of painful backtracks and abrupt shifts that cost him a second term.

From Reuters ● Sep. 1, 2023

As he sees the look of horror that this suggestion prompts, he quickly backtracks.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

In April, Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa floated the idea of charging vessels to cross the strait, but later backtracked.

From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026

Less than 24 hours after cancelling the summer schemes for children with special needs, the Education Authority backtracked and confirmed they will now go ahead as planned.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

Meanwhile the U.S. backtracked from a claim that it’s helped tankers go through the contested passageway.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 11, 2026

He backtracked slightly—“all respect to the ballet and opera people out there”—only to pour salt on the fresh wound.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026

Ridge looked at Michael, and Michael’s mind backtracked to the day after they’d visited the mall, when they sat on the couch side-by-side, watching Ricki Lake.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

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

Itauma - the prodigy who was sparring seasoned professionals while still at school - was in wonderful form from the first bell, using his speed and variation to send Franklin backtracking.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026

But backtracking and regrets have no place here.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026

Silberfeld’s optimism arose from the agency’s apparent backtracking from plans unveiled in a January court hearing to install up to 800 tiny homes on the property.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026

Clearly the traffic got so bad, people turned around on the road and tried to go the other way, hoping that backtracking would actually cut their losses.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman