Word.ws English Dictionary

walks back the cat

walks back the cat is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 walks back the cat

What is walks back the cat the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Walks back the cat is the third-person singular simple present indicative of walk back the cat.

Words near walks back the cat in the dictionary

  1. walks around
  2. walks away
  3. walks away from
  4. walks away with
  5. walks back
  6. walks back the cat
  7. walks behind
  8. walks down
  9. walks free
  10. walks in
  11. walks in on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: walks 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.

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