back off

back off idiom
  1. See back down, def. 2.
  2. Relent, abandon one's stand. For example, The chairman wanted to sell one division but later backed off. [Mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.