"climb down" meaning in English

See climb down in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-climb down.ogg [Australia] Forms: climb downs [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} climb down (plural climb downs)
  1. (idiomatic, sometimes hyphenated) An abandonment, withdrawal from, or softening of a previously expressed opinion, policy, argument, etc. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-climb_down-en-noun-JfXRJjuC

Verb

Audio: en-au-climb down.ogg [Australia] Forms: climbs down [present, singular, third-person], climbing down [participle, present], climbed down [participle, past], climbed down [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} climb down (third-person singular simple present climbs down, present participle climbing down, simple past and past participle climbed down)
  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see climb, down. Synonyms: climb-down, backpedal
    Sense id: en-climb_down-en-verb-KeY5G4GC Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English phrasal verbs with particle (down), English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 59 21 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 20 59 22 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (down): 18 58 24 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 22 54 24
  2. (idiomatic, sometimes followed by from) To abandon, withdraw from, or soften a previously expressed opinion, argument, etc. Tags: idiomatic, sometimes
    Sense id: en-climb_down-en-verb-XWUXGDZd

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for climb down meaning in English (5.2kB)

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  "forms": [
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      "form": "climb downs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "climb down (plural climb downs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003 August 7, “Hope for Korea”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 2011-06-30, page A20",
          "text": "It is interesting to speculate on what combination of factors acted within the Bush administration to bring about the climb-down from its previous position.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 September 27, “Mulyam shows his ‘secular’ face again, hits out at BJP”, in India Times, retrieved 2011-06-30",
          "text": "His climb-down from the \"hard, secular\" image was mainly to widen his support base.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 April 24, “Editorial: Dalton McGuinty schooled on sex ed”, in Toronto Sun, Canada, retrieved 2011-06-30",
          "text": "Hours before his climb down, the premier's own cabinet ministers had vigorously defended the curriculum.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An abandonment, withdrawal from, or softening of a previously expressed opinion, policy, argument, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-climb_down-en-noun-JfXRJjuC",
      "links": [
        [
          "hyphenate",
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        [
          "abandonment",
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          "withdrawal",
          "withdrawal"
        ],
        [
          "soften",
          "soften"
        ],
        [
          "opinion",
          "opinion"
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        [
          "policy",
          "policy"
        ],
        [
          "argument",
          "argument"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "sometimes hyphenated",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, sometimes hyphenated) An abandonment, withdrawal from, or softening of a previously expressed opinion, policy, argument, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/En-au-climb_down.ogg/En-au-climb_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/En-au-climb_down.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "climb down"
}

{
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      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "climbing down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "climbed down",
      "tags": [
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    {
      "form": "climbed down",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "19 59 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "20 59 22",
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          "_dis": "18 58 24",
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          "_dis": "22 54 24",
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It took 4 hours to climb up, and just 2 to climb down."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see climb, down."
      ],
      "id": "en-climb_down-en-verb-KeY5G4GC",
      "links": [
        [
          "climb",
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      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "7 85 8",
          "word": "climb-down"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "word": "backpedal"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992 July 27, Paul Lewis, “Inspectors begin search in Baghdad”, in The Day, Connecticut, USA, retrieved 2011-06-30, page A5",
          "text": "But Ekeus said Iraq had climbed down in its confrontation with the UN.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993 May 24, Michael Kramer, “The Political Interest: Drawing a Line in the Quicksand”, in Time",
          "text": "No, but it may be a way for Clinton to climb down from a policy he seems increasingly to view as a no-win proposition.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001 June 7, Morton Kondracke, “Quit arguing and develop policy to end energy woes”, in Reading Eagle, USA, retrieved 2011-06-30, page B9",
          "text": "If they are interested in climbing down from their oppositionism, Democrats ought to consult the Progressive Policy Institute, which has been critical of Bush, but which is developing a balanced, positive approach to the energy crisis.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To abandon, withdraw from, or soften a previously expressed opinion, argument, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-climb_down-en-verb-XWUXGDZd",
      "links": [
        [
          "from",
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        ],
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          "abandon",
          "abandon"
        ],
        [
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          "withdraw"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, sometimes followed by from) To abandon, withdraw from, or soften a previously expressed opinion, argument, etc."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "followed by from"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "sometimes"
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  "sounds": [
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      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/En-au-climb_down.ogg/En-au-climb_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/En-au-climb_down.ogg",
      "tags": [
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    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
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  "forms": [
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          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "2003 September 27, “Mulyam shows his ‘secular’ face again, hits out at BJP”, in India Times, retrieved 2011-06-30",
          "text": "His climb-down from the \"hard, secular\" image was mainly to widen his support base.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 April 24, “Editorial: Dalton McGuinty schooled on sex ed”, in Toronto Sun, Canada, retrieved 2011-06-30",
          "text": "Hours before his climb down, the premier's own cabinet ministers had vigorously defended the curriculum.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        "An abandonment, withdrawal from, or softening of a previously expressed opinion, policy, argument, etc."
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        "(idiomatic, sometimes hyphenated) An abandonment, withdrawal from, or softening of a previously expressed opinion, policy, argument, etc."
      ],
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      "word": "climb-down"
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    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It took 4 hours to climb up, and just 2 to climb down."
        }
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      ],
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          "ref": "1992 July 27, Paul Lewis, “Inspectors begin search in Baghdad”, in The Day, Connecticut, USA, retrieved 2011-06-30, page A5",
          "text": "But Ekeus said Iraq had climbed down in its confrontation with the UN.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993 May 24, Michael Kramer, “The Political Interest: Drawing a Line in the Quicksand”, in Time",
          "text": "No, but it may be a way for Clinton to climb down from a policy he seems increasingly to view as a no-win proposition.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001 June 7, Morton Kondracke, “Quit arguing and develop policy to end energy woes”, in Reading Eagle, USA, retrieved 2011-06-30, page B9",
          "text": "If they are interested in climbing down from their oppositionism, Democrats ought to consult the Progressive Policy Institute, which has been critical of Bush, but which is developing a balanced, positive approach to the energy crisis.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To abandon, withdraw from, or soften a previously expressed opinion, argument, etc."
      ],
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        [
          "from",
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        ],
        [
          "abandon",
          "abandon"
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          "withdraw",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, sometimes followed by from) To abandon, withdraw from, or soften a previously expressed opinion, argument, etc."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "followed by from"
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/En-au-climb_down.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "backpedal"
    },
    {
      "word": "climb-down"
    }
  ],
  "word": "climb down"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (bb24e0f and c7ea76d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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