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• back to back
  back to back

  adverb

  (of two similar events) following one immediately after the other; in unbroken sequence; consecutively.
• back-to-back
  back-to-back

  adjective

  facing in opposite directions, often with the backs touching

back to back

American  

adverb

1. (of two similar events) following one immediately after the other; in unbroken sequence; consecutively.

   After losing all day, he picked winners back to back in the last two races.

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adjective

1. adjacent or contiguous but oppositely oriented; having the backs close together or adjoining.

   The seats in the day coach are back to back.

2. Stud Poker. (of a pair) consisting of the hole card and the first upcard.

   He had aces back to back.

back-to-back British  

adjective

1. facing in opposite directions, often with the backs touching

2. (of urban houses) built so that their backs are joined or separated only by a narrow alley

3. informal consecutive

4. commerce

   1. denoting a credit arrangement in which a finance house acts as an intermediary to conceal the identity of the seller from the buyer

   2. denoting a loan from one company to another in a different country using a finance house to provide the loan but not the funding

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noun

1. a house or terrace built in back-to-back style

back to back Idioms  

1. With backs close together or touching, as in In the first and second rows of the bus, the seats were back to back, an unusual arrangement . This term also can be applied to persons who stand facing in opposite directions and with their backs touching. [Mid-1800s]

2. Consecutively, one after another, as in I'm exhausted; I had three meetings back to back . [Mid-1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of back to back

First recorded in 1450–1500

Explanation

Back-to-back things come right after each other. Two back-to-back baseball games are played in a row. Back-to-back has been used to describe houses that are literally back-to-back with no separation. These days, back-to-back events happen consecutively. A baseball player with back-to-back home runs hit two in a row. A President with back-to-back victories won two elections in a row. There's no separation between back-to-back things, like how if your back was pressed against someone else’s back, nothing could fit in between. Sometimes people use the term back-to-back-to-back for things that happen three times in a row.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

back to back back-to-back

This club has won back to back NFC Easts and delivered a title just two seasons ago, but remains dogged by underachiever vibes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Hampshire have three more back to back - starting at home to Glamorgan on Friday - before England's first Test of the summer.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

The show has followed the club's back to back to back promotions from the National League to the Championship, since Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and actor Rob Mac took over.

From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026

Played back to back, the songs made you think of how little agreement we’ve come to over the last quarter-century about who gets to be called an American.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

She turned so the two of them were back to back.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

Look, we know who she is, the 28-year-old Belarusian who’s been the best women’s player on earth for the past half-decade and entered the Open as the back-to-back champion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

According to his analysis, going back to 1945, the second and third quarters of midterm election years have registered the only back-to-back quarterly declines for the stock market, on average, during four-year presidential cycles.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

The June to August season was defined by severe, back-to-back heatwaves that shut schools, dried up rivers and primed the land for devastating wildfires.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

Now he’s had back-to-back games rushing for more than 100 yards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

"You can't do those treatments all at once. You must learn to refuse. You should only do three at a time, especially when you have back-to-back appointments. Your arcana levels took a massive dip."

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Related Words

• later