back off

See also: backoff

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

back off (third-person singular simple present backs off, present participle backing off, simple past and past participle backed off)

(literally) To move backwards away from something.
I tried to back off slowly from the tiger in my path.
(idiomatic) To become less aggressive, particularly when one had appeared committed to act.
You need to back off, or the situation could turn ugly.
I was going to sue, until my legal advisors told me to back off.
(idiomatic) To lower the setting of.
Could you back off the volume a bit? It's really loud.

Translations

To move backwards away from something

French: reculer (fr)
Russian: отступа́ть (ru) (otstupátʹ)

Spanish: retroceder (es)

To become less aggressive, particularly when one had appeared committed to act

French: mettre de l'eau dans son vin (fr)

To lower the setting of

French: baisser d'un ton (fr)