backpedal

To pedal backwards on a bicycle.

The road was on a hill and the boy was going down the slope, and as he flashed by he started backpedalling very quickly so that the free-wheeling mechanism of his bike made a loud whirring sound.

To step backwards.

The player had to backpedal before catching the ball.

To distance oneself from an earlier claim or statement; back off from an idea.

Though initially adopting a hard-line stance, the politician soon started to backpedal.

The best car sound of 1999 is that of a new Rover 75 being furiously backpedalled through the motoring page of the Sunday Times.

An act of backpedalling (in any sense).

He should come out of his backpedal and turn to run only when a receiver threatens to get behind him in the zone.

They were doing 50 yards of lunges, 50 yards of backpedals, sprinting for 50 yards and power walking one mile around the track to help him reach his target heart rate.