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climbdown

American  
[klahym-doun] / ˈklaɪmˌdaʊn /

noun

Chiefly British.

  1. a retreat from a policy, opinion, position in a debate, etc..

    The government’s recent climbdown from its wage freeze policy is just another instance of the flip-flopping that infuriates voters.

Etymology

Origin of climbdown

First recorded in 1905–10; climb ( def. ) + down 1 ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After a minor climbdown, Infantino defended the prices and said they reflected the public's "absolutely crazy" demand.

From BBC

Well, that was an epic climbdown.

From The Wall Street Journal

However, the “future deal” on Greenland is still up in the air and therefore it is hard to know what caused the sudden climbdown.

From Barron's

However, the “future deal” on Greenland is still up in the air and therefore it is hard to know what caused the sudden climbdown.

From Barron's

However, the “future deal” on Greenland is still up in the air and therefore it is hard to know what caused the sudden climbdown.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.