verb
come down (Freq. 3)
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the birds alighted
• Syn: ↑alight
• Verb Frames:
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Something ——s
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Somebody ——s
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Somebody ——s PP
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[verb]
1. descend, dismount
2. back down, eat one's words, retract, retreat
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2 the Government had to climb down: BACK DOWN, admit defeat, surrender, capitulate, yield, give in, give way, submit; retreat, backtrack; eat one's words, eat humble pie; do a U-turn; Brit. do an about-turn; N. Amer. informal eat crow.
→ climb
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intransitive verb : to retreat from a position previously taken
after taking a bold stand on foreign policy, the ambassador climbed down at the first sign of opposition
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climb down
1. To become more humble
2. To abandon a firmly stated opinion or resolve, or an excessive or overweening demand, position or attitude (climbˈ-down noun)
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Main Entry: ↑climb
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ˌclimb ˈdown [intransitive] [present tense I/you/we/they climb down he/she/it climbs down present participle climbing down past tense climbed down past participle climbed down] british phrasal verb
to admit that you were wrong, especially after expressing an opinion or argument very firmly
Thesaurus: to admit that something is truesynonym
Main entry: climb
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climb down [phrasal verb]
chiefly Brit : to admit that you have made a mistake and change your position or opinion
His statement is seen as an attempt to climb down [=back away] from the strong denial he made yesterday.
— see also ↑climbdown
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Main Entry: ↑climb
Useful english dictionary. 2012.