Dictionary entry

Backslide

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Back″slide″ (–slīd″; 277), v. i. [imp.Backslid (�); p. p.Backslidden (�), Backslid; p. pr. & vb. n.Backsliding.] [Back, adv. + slide.] To slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.