Word.ws English Dictionary

backs away

backs away is the third-person singular simple present indicative of back away.

Meaning of back away

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) To move in a direction opposite to that which one is facing, keeping one's attention on the thing in front being avoided.
    • Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’[…].” So I started to back away again into the bushes. But I hadn't backed more'n a couple of yards when I see something so amazing that I couldn't help scooching down behind the bayberries and looking...1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  2. (intransitive) To cease supporting something; to pretend one has never supported something.

Questions about backs away

What is backs away the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Backs away is the third-person singular simple present indicative of back away.

Words near backs away in the dictionary

  1. backruns
  2. backrush
  3. backrushes
  4. backs
  5. backs against the wall
  6. backs away
  7. backs down
  8. backs in
  9. backs into
  10. backs off
  11. backs on to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: backs away (page history and authors); back away (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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