From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishclimb down phrasal verb British EnglishADMITto admit that you were wrong, especially after being certain that you were right → climb-down → climb→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
climb down• a humiliating climbdown by the government over their economic policies• Neither side in the dispute has been willing to climb down.• European Court decisions have forced several employers to climb down and change their policy on women's pay.climb-downˈclimb-down noun [countable usually singular] British English an occasion when you admit that you were wrong a humiliating climb-down by the governmentExamples from the Corpus
climb-down• Better an early climb-down in some sheltered private meeting, he argued, than a humiliation on the floor of the House. 