backpedaling
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- (UK) backpedalling
Verb
[edit]backpedaling
- (US) present participle and gerund of backpedal
Noun
[edit]backpedaling (countable and uncountable, plural backpedalings)
- The act of distancing oneself from a previously supported idea, action, behaviour, etc.; a U-turn or flip-flop.
- 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, , page 3:
- Despite the swift backpedalling of the university, the original notice given to stall operators is suggestive of the potential existence of ‘a growing English-speaking elite’ that is ‘happy to maintain the importance of the English language’.