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• back-and-forth
  back-and-forth

  adjective

  backward and forward; side to side; to and fro.
• back and forth
  back and forth

  Also, backward(s) and forward(s). To and fro, moving in one direction and then the opposite and so making no progress in either. For example, The clock pendulum swung back and forth. The term is also used figuratively, as in The lawyers argued the point backwards and forwards for an entire week. [c. 1600]

back-and-forth

American  

[bak-uhn-fawrth, -fohrth, -uhnd-] / ˈbæk ənˈfɔrθ, -ˈfoʊrθ, -ənd- /

adjective

1. backward and forward; side to side; to and fro.

   a back-and-forth shuttling of buses to the stadium; the back-and-forth movement of a clock's pendulum.

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noun

1. unresolved argument or discussion.

back and forth Idioms  

1. Also, backward(s) and forward(s). To and fro, moving in one direction and then the opposite and so making no progress in either. For example, The clock pendulum swung back and forth. The term is also used figuratively, as in The lawyers argued the point backwards and forwards for an entire week. [c. 1600]

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Usage

What does back-and-forth mean? Back-and-forth is a noun that means an argument or discussion in which little gets resolved. Back-and-forth is also used to describe something having a movement pattern in which it repeatedly moves somewhere and returns to where it started. A back-and-forth is a discussion where two or more people are failing to reach a compromise or a solution, as in I had a very long back-and-forth with my girlfriend about what to do with my dog. A back-and-forth is a much less productive version of a give-and-take, where people more easily reach a compromise. As an adjective, back-and-forth describes a movement from one point to another and then back to the original point, as in The audience stared at the back-and-forth movements of the hypnotist’s watch. Such a movement might be forward and backward and forward again or from one side to another and back to the first side. Example: The budget discussion became an intense back-and-forth where neither side wanted to concede anything.

Etymology

Origin of back-and-forth

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

back-and-forth back and forth

The human interaction, back-and-forth questions and follow-ups are essential to keep their stories authentic and anti-AI — a system that is proving to be detrimental to teaching writing skills.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Recent back-and-forth and sideways moves among memory and electrical equipment companies are a “very healthy market behavior that lays a good foundation for, potentially, a market advance in the quarters ahead.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

The bill marks the latest back-and-forth over PFAS, chemicals that are found in many different consumer, commercial and industrial products and are known as forever chemicals because some of their components don’t easily break down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

The back-and-forth between Taylor Farms and regulators is the latest wrinkle that consumers have to navigate while they figure out what’s safe to eat right now.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

This game is like Ping-Pong, with all the back-and-forth.

From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander

During our interview, Roebuck went back and forth between his feelings about Walters’ sentence.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Cyber officials had been in talks with Anthropic since May about testing Mythos 5, which resulted in months of back and forth between the two sides.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

By the final stage, OpenAI researcher Sebastien Bubeck said, 10,000 AI agents -- programs that operate on their own -- were working on the problem at once, passing messages back and forth.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

After this, there will be a lot of going back and forth across the Channel; crimes of the aristocracy; Darnay’s own Big Secret revealed; more trials, more imprisonments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

Her head dropped down, and she pushed the right toe of her shoe back and forth, just like Ronnie.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan