Past tense of backtrack; reversed direction, retraced steps, or withdrew from a previously stated position.
From 'back' (Old English bæc) + 'track' (from Middle English tracke). The word became common in American English in the mid-20th century.
We use 'backtrack' for both literal hiking (reversing path) and social situations (withdrawing statements), which reveals how our language treats physical and argumentative reversals as psychologically equivalent actions.
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