Meaning of claw back | Babel Free

Definitions

To recover or retake, with great effort, something that was lost, often by a government or official agency.

transitive

Examples

“I was initially refused a refund, but eventually managed to claw back part of the money.”

“Michael Gove has tried to claw his way back into the race to be Britain’s next prime minister with a pledge to govern for “overlooked families and undervalued communities” – and a series of personal attacks on frontrunner Boris Johnson.”

“To claw back the Republicans’ current four-seat majority [in the House], Ms. DelBene sees an “incredible opportunity” in the 16 seats now held by Republicans in districts that Mr. Biden won in 2020, as well as seats in the blue states of New York and California.”

“It was rescued by 37263, but the 40-minute delay had been clawed back by the end of the day.”

CEFR level