A compound verb carrying the basic sense of pushing or driving something backward. In military contexts it means to beat back an assailant or drive back shields. Nautically it can describe checking a ship's course. The medical usage includes regurgitating food or the effect of treatment taking hold. Metaphorically, it extends to being restrained from an impulse or stopping short in speech. The passive voice often carries the sense of being stopped, restrained, or checked from some intended action.