back button

American

[bak buh-tuhn] / ˈbæk ˌbʌ tən /

noun

an icon on an electronic device or screen, usually depicting a leftward-facing arrow, which, when pressed, returns the user to the previous webpage, screen, or selection.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

back buttons

plural

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

back button

Google says it is expanding its policies to crack down on websites which trap users with "back button hijacking".

From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026

Press the back button to return to the App info screen, then scroll up to Permissions to turn on microphone access if it isn’t selected already.

From The Verge ● Jul. 26, 2022

Label the note and hit the back button.

From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2021

The way that I listen when I’m truly enthralled by a particular piece of music certainly feels like a crush—picking up the tone arm, hitting the back button, refreshing the browser, over and over.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 26, 2018

In these cases, there is no link back to the footnote anchor, but the browser back button should be used.

From Chlorination of Water by Joseph Race

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023