(push back in verb form, pushback if used as a noun) formerly the sole domain of airplanes leaving their gates, this term is used to indicate resistance or disagreement without actually expressing those potentially controversial feelings explicitly, as in: “Let me just push back on your proposal for a second here” or “The new CTO is getting a lot of pushback on his plans to switch vendors”; although it suggests a milder opposition, it may belie a resolute determination to impede the progress of, or thwart entirely, the idea in question