push back

See also: pushback and push-back

English

Noun

push back (plural push backs)

1. Alternative spelling of pushback.

Verb

push back (third-person singular simple present pushes back, present participle pushing back, simple past and past participle pushed back)

1. To refute or argue against a position or an accusation; to express one's own view on a situation.

   The scandal is growing legs. We need to start pushing back.

2. To postpone.

   The Friday meeting keeps getting pushed back to the following week.

3. (migration) To summarily expel asylum seekers, especially in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.
   • 2021 May 5, Lorenzo Tondo, “Revealed: 2,000 refugee deaths linked to illegal EU pushbacks”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 October 2026:

     EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders during the pandemic […]

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see push,‎ back.