student asking question

What does “back down” mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

To "back down", means that you accept or admit that you are wrong about something, or you accept that you have lost an argument or fight. Ex: The argument went on all night, but my brother eventually backed down and apologised. "Back down" as a phrasal verb can be used negatively to describe a situation in which someone will not admit that they are wrong or have lost an argument. They will "not back down". Ex: It was obvious that he had made a big mistake, but he would not back down.

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