backtrack
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But then he appeared to backtrack after his critique made headlines and ricocheted around social media.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Meta was preparing to backtrack on the deal, a complicated U-turn given that investors had already received returns.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 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
“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
“I’ve decided to leave by another route. Somebody might backtrack me and find you. And that would be too bad.”
From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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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
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
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“A lot of us, our hope is that eventually, history will straighten this all out and say, no, Gloria came in a little later, and her very loyal supporters have backtracked that history.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
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
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
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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
Some Inuit families in Greenland remain worried despite US President Donald Trump backtracking on a threat of using force to acquire the Arctic territory and beginning talks with Copenhagen and Nuuk.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
We had spent all day struggling and backtracking in the cut-up, crevassed area east of the Fire-Hills; We were tired that evening but elated, sure that a clear course would soon open out ahead.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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