Word.ws English Dictionary

walk back the cat

walk back the cat verb: to reconstruct the sequence of events in order to identify the point of failure in an operation and ascertain responsibility.

Verb

walk back the cat (third-person singular simple present walks back the cat, present participle walking back the cat, simple past and past participle walked back the cat)

  1. To reconstruct the sequence of events in order to identify the point of failure in an operation and ascertain responsibility.
    • Bernhard had been called back to headquarters for a conference, a general review of current operations with special attention to methods and sources, connecting dots while they walked back the cat, a dispirited and dispiriting exercise.2007, Ward Just, Forgetfulness, page 110
  2. To back down; to adopt a position where one is more willing to compromise.

Forms of walk back the cat

third-person singular presentwalks back the cat
present participlewalking back the cat
past participlewalked back the cat
pastwalked back the cat
alternative formwalk the cat back

Questions about walk back the cat

What does walk back the cat mean?
Walk back the cat means to reconstruct the sequence of events in order to identify the point of failure in an operation and ascertain responsibility.
What part of speech is walk back the cat?
Walk back the cat is a verb.
What is the past tense of walk back the cat?
The past tense of walk back the cat is walked back the cat.

Words near walk back the cat in the dictionary

  1. walk around money
  2. walk away
  3. walk away from
  4. walk away with
  5. walk back
  6. walk back the cat
  7. walk behind
  8. walk cycle
  9. walk cycles
  10. walk down
  11. walk down the aisle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: walk back the cat (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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