push back
verb1
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
To summarily expel asylum seekers, especially in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.
- EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders during the pandemic[…]2021 May 5, Lorenzo Tondo, “Revealed: 2,000 refugee deaths linked to illegal EU pushbacks”, in The Guardian:
4
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see push, back.