back forty

American  

Or back 40

noun

1. remote, usually uncultivated acreage on a large piece of land, as on a farm or ranch.

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Etymology

Origin of back forty

Apparently because forty acres was a typical size for such a piece of land

Example Sentences

So, you’re not saying he was a special agent going back forty years?

From The New Yorker • Nov. 24, 2019

And, here, it’s instructive again to go back forty years.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 11, 2019

“Main man, you’re my support,” it begins, “your two strong legs, your back forty years against a brick wall.”

From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2012

But then Bragg has fallen back forty miles, and is probably retiring toward Cumberland Gap, that he may not be taken in the rear by the enemy’s forces lately at Corinth.

From A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital by Jones, John Beauchamp

Tuesday night the British were in possession of La Ferte-sous-Jouarre and Chateau Thierry and the Germans had fallen back forty miles, leaving a long train of spoils behind them.

From America's War for Humanity by Russell, Thomas Herbert