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back button

American

[bak buh-tuhn] / ˈbæk ˌbʌ tən /

noun

an icon on an electronic device or screen, usually depicting a leftward-facing arrow, which, when pressed, returns the user to the previous webpage, screen, or selection.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

back buttons

plural

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Back button hijacking is when a website interferes with a browser so the back button no longer takes users to the previous page, instead often keeping them on the site or presenting unsolicited ads.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

Label the note and hit the back button.

From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2021

So developers can disable back next to those areas to ensure the back button isn’t accidentally triggered.

From The Verge • Aug. 8, 2019

The way that I listen when I’m truly enthralled by a particular piece of music certainly feels like a crush—picking up the tone arm, hitting the back button, refreshing the browser, over and over.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 26, 2018

In these cases, there is no link back to the footnote anchor, but the browser back button should be used.

From Chlorination of Water by Race, Joseph

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023