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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

back-and-forth back and forth

The back-and-forth is leaving some investors with a case of whiplash.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

The back-and-forth encapsulated how a decision that used to be simple—whether or not to receive the ball at the start of overtime—has become hopelessly fraught.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

If you scroll through Twitter, you might encounter Tanden engaging in a testy back-and-forth with progressive journalist Mehdi Hasan.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

Probably not many, so it’s not like this one-hour back-and-forth tips the scale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

He, in turn, responded by blaming their teenaged son, and after a spirited back-and-forth, two more actors rushed onstage, playing two different characters in the same narrative.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

“Maybe making movies is a way of moving back and forth, in and out, of linear time,” Eleanor says in one of her journal entries.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

On Friday, the back and forth escalated yet again, when the Justice Department warned in a letter to L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Beneath the battle for aerial superiority, unmanned ground vehicles scurry back and forth delivering supplies, evacuating the wounded or, increasingly, leading the charge against the enemy.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

For a time, Quaid and Savoie were traveling back and forth between Los Angeles and Nashville, but following the 2025 California wildfires, they decided to pull the plug on life on the West Coast.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

“So JB and Hodge and Gary can zip back and forth through time?”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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