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backslide

verb

Etymology

From back + slide.

  1. inherited from *slīdaną✻ — “to slide, glide”
  2. inherited from *slīdan✻
  3. inherited from slīdan — “to slide”
  4. inherited from sliden
  5. compounded as backslide — “back + slide”

Definitions

  1. To regress

    To regress; to slip backwards or revert to a previous, worse state.

    • He felt better for a little while, before his condition started to backslide.
    • […] Monna Brigida, who had backslided into false hair in Romola's absence, but now drew it off again and declared she would not mind being gray, if her dear child would stay with her.
    • Despite backsliding in various parts of the globe, there's a very clear trend towards the decentralisation of governments.

  2. To shirk responsibility

    To shirk responsibility; to renege on one's obligations or commitments.

    • Rich countries are backsliding on their commitment to agree to new WTO measures to help people in poor countries gain access to affordable medicines.

  3. To revert back into a life of sin after being saved.

  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. A backward regression

      A backward regression; a reverting back to a worse state.

    2. A dance move in which the feet are alternately slid back and the heels lifted, giving the…

      A dance move in which the feet are alternately slid back and the heels lifted, giving the illusion of walking forwards while actually moving backwards.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for backslide. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA