fight back

phrasal verb

fought back; fighting back; fights back

: to attack or try to defeat someone who is attacking or trying to defeat oneself

We can't just let them make these accusations against us. We need to fight back!

: to make a new effort against an opponent

They fell behind early in the game, but they were able to fight back and tie the score in the second half.

Examples of fight back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Zelensky, meanwhile, said that another goal of the operation was to show Kyiv’s Western allies that with the right support, its military can fight back and eventually win the war. —

Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 13 Sep. 2024 American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon 34 minutes later, and United Flight 93 – carrying passengers who bravely fought back against their hijackers – crashed into a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m. —

Richard M. Frankel, ABC News, 11 Sep. 2024 In spite of Trump’s many attacks and tirades, Harris didn’t have the luxury of being able to fully fight back. —

Brea Baker, refinery29.com, 11 Sep. 2024 Steven Cheung, Trump’s representative, fought back against the claim, at first jokingly. —

Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for fight back

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fight back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.