claw back

See also: clawback

English

Verb

claw back (third-person singular simple present claws back, present participle clawing back, simple past and past participle clawed back)

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

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

   • 2019 June 10, Heather Stewart, “Gove reboots Tory leadership bid with attack on Johnson”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2024, Story Hinckley, Democrats emphasize ‘authenticity’ to take back the House, in: The Christian Science Monitor, May 17 2024

     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.