claw back

verb

1. to get back (something) with difficulty
2. to recover (a sum of money), esp by taxation or a penalty

noun

1. the recovery of a sum of money, esp by taxation or a penalty
2. the sum so recovered

Example Sentences

Democrats need to hold the open seat — or win seats elsewhere to make up ground — to claw back the House majority.

From Los Angeles Times

The result of sprint qualifying gives Norris an opportunity to claw back a small amount of points on Verstappen in Saturday’s sprint event, in which there are eight points for a win, seven for second and so on down to eighth.

From BBC

As Doctorow put it: “Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.”

From Slate

Dumfries and Galloway Council has lodged a claim to "claw back" the funding it provided to overhaul the mansion which helped to inspire JM Barrie to write Peter Pan.

From BBC

But once back out on track on the hard tyres, Norris was the fastest man, and began to slowly claw back his deficit.

From BBC