Pushback

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of repelling an enemy, etc. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A procedure in which an aircraft is pushed backwards away from the gate by some external force, usually a special tractor. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A reversal or reduction. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "Sweden, as well as the UK, recently announced pushbacks on green targets and budgets, while there are negative noises from Germany on building insulation costs."

  4. 4
    Criticism of or resistance to a proposal, stance, or event. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "More pushback from Hill on eavesdropping [title]"

  5. 5
    Summary expulsion of asylum seekers, especially when violating the principle of non-refoulement. countable, uncountable

    ""Every single pushback represents a violation of international and EU law – whether it involves violence or not.""

Example

More examples

"“We must push back against the pushback,” he said. “We cannot give way; we refuse to lose the ground we have won.”"

Etymology

From push + back, or push back.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.