| Main Entry: |
go back/go back on
|
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | break promise; change one's mind |
| Synonyms: | abandon, be unfaithful, betray, desert, forsake, leave in the lurch, renege, repudiate, retract, return, revert, run out on |
| Antonyms: | keep, promise |
| Main Entry: | back out |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | withdraw |
| Synonyms: | avoid, back down, back pedal, beg off, blow it off, cancel, chicken out, cop out, get cold feet, give up, go back on, recant, renege, resign, scratch, shy from, surrender, throw in the towel, weasel out, welsh, wiggle out, worm out |
| Main Entry: | back-pedal |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | change mind |
| Synonyms: | back out of, change opinion, default on, do a U-turn, do an about-face, fail to honor, go back on, go into reverse, have second thoughts, reconsider, renege, shift one's ground, sing a different song, take back |
| Main Entry: | betray |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | be disloyal |
| Synonyms: | abandon, be unfaithful, bite the hand that feeds you, blow the whistle, bluff, break faith, break promise, break trust, break with, commit treason, cross, deceive, deliver up, delude, desert, double-cross, finger*, forsake, go back on, inform against, inform on, jilt, knife*, let down, mislead, play Judas, play false, seduce, sell down the river, sell out, stab in the back, take in*, trick, turn in, turn informer, turn state's evidence, walk out on |
| Antonyms: | be faithful, be loyal, defend, protect, support |
| Main Entry: | chicken out |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | back down |
| Synonyms: | avoid, back down, back out, back pedal, beg off, beg off, blow it off, bow out, cancel, chicken out, cop out, cop out, funk out, get cold feet, get cold feet, give up, give way, go back on, have no stomach for, make concessions, pull out, recant, renege, resign, scratch, shy from, surrender, throw in the towel, turn yellow, weasel out, welsh, wiggle out, wimp out, withdraw, worm out, worm out, yield |
| Main Entry: | defect |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | break from belief, faith |
| Synonyms: | abandon, abscond, apostatize, back out, break faith, change sides, depart, desert, fall away from, forsake, go, go back on, go over, go over the fence, lapse, leave, pull out, quit, rat, rebel, reject, renege, renounce, revolt, run out, schism, sell out, spurn, take a walk, tergiversate, tergiverse, turn, turn coat, walk out on, withdraw |
| Antonyms: | come in, join |
| Main Entry: | desert |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | abandon, defect |
| Synonyms: | abscond, apostatize, bail out, beach, betray, bolt, check out*, chuck, cop out, crawl out, decamp, depart, duck*, escape, flee, fly, forsake, give up, go, go AWOL, go back on, go over the hill, go west, jilt, leave, leave high and dry, leave in the lurch, leave stranded, light, maroon, opt out, play truant, pull out, quit, relinquish, renounce, resign, run out on, sneak off, split*, strand, take a hike, take off, tergiversate, throw over, vacate, violate oath, walk |
| Notes: | that impoverished stretch of sand called a desert can only afford one 's'; that rich gooey extra thing at the end of the meal called a dessert indulges in two of them |
| Antonyms: | aid, assist, come back, help, stay, support |
| Main Entry: | lie |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | tell an untruth |
| Synonyms: | BS, be untruthful, bear false witness, beguile, break promise, bull*, con, concoct, deceive, delude, dissemble, dissimulate, distort, dupe*, equivocate, exaggerate, fabricate, fake, falsify, fib, forswear, frame, fudge, go back on, invent, make believe, malign, misguide, misinform, misinstruct, mislead, misrepresent, misspeak, misstate, overdraw, palter, perjure, pervert, phony, plant*, prevaricate, promote, put on*, put up a front, snow*, soft-soap, string along, victimize |
| Notes: | to lay is to place something; to lie is to recline |
| Antonyms: | be honest |
| Main Entry: | retract |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | take back; renege on |
| Synonyms: | abjure, back, back down, back off, back out of, call off, cancel, change one's mind, countermand, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, draw in, eat one's words, eliminate, exclude, fall back, forget it, forswear, go back on, have change of heart, nig, pull back, pull in, recall, recant, recede, reel in, renege, renounce, repeal, repudiate, rescind, retreat, retrocede, retrograde, reverse, revoke, rule out, sheathe, suspend, take back, take in, unsay, welsh, withdraw |
| Notes: | recant means to formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, while retract means to take back or to draw back or in |
| Antonyms: | corroborate, emphasize, reaffirm, repeat |