take back

verb

1. to retract or withdraw (something said, written, promised, etc)

2. to regain possession of

3. to return for exchange

   to take back a substandard garment

4. to accept (someone) back (into one's home, affections, etc)

5. to remind one of the past; cause one to reminisce

   that tune really takes me back

6. (also intr) printing to move (copy) to the previous line

Idioms and Phrases

Retract a statement, as in I said you weren't much of a cook but after that dinner I take it all back . This usage was first recorded in 1775.

take one back . Return in thought to a past time, as in That music takes me back to the first dance I ever went to . [Late 1800s]

Related Words

• cancel 
• reclaim 
• renege 
• repeal 
• repossess 
• rescind 
• revoke 
• withdraw