back and fill

Idioms  

1. Vacillate, be undecided, as in This measure will never be passed if the town meeting continues to back and fill. This term comes from sailing ships, where it signifies alternately backing and filling the sails, a method used when the wind is running against a ship in a narrow channel. The sail is hauled back against the wind and braced so that the tide or current carries the ship forward against the wind. Then the sail must be swung around and filled, to keep the ship on course. The term's figurative use for indecisiveness dates from the mid-1800s.

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Example Sentences

“I had to go all the way back and fill it back in.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 7, 2023

It’s getting harder to go back and fill in the holes if kids are not learning the material.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 18, 2023

She added that she is grappling with how MOCA’s collection can “tell the narrative differently” and, given glaring omissions, “Do we look back and fill in?”

From New York Times • Apr. 11, 2022

“If you resell that ticket, the discount doesn’t travel with it. … We want to encourage Redskins fans to come to games, grab the home-field advantage back and fill the stadium with Burgundy and Gold.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 19, 2018

Eva took a bucket over and Mrs. Jackson told her to come back and fill it up in the morning, because the evening milking had already been done.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison