Word.ws English Dictionary

walking back the cat

walking back the cat is the present participle and gerund of walk back the cat.

Meaning of walk back the cat

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.

Questions about walking back the cat

What is walking back the cat the present participle and gerund of?
Walking back the cat is the present participle and gerund of walk back the cat.

Words near walking back the cat in the dictionary

  1. walking around
  2. walking away
  3. walking away from
  4. walking away with
  5. walking back
  6. walking back the cat
  7. walking bass
  8. walking beam
  9. walking beams
  10. Walking Bear
  11. walking behind

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: walking back the cat (page history and authors); 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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “walking back the cat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/walking_back_the_cat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.