back to back

adverb

(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.

adjectiveAlso back-to-back.

adjacent or contiguous but oppositely oriented; having the backs close together or adjoining: The seats in the day coach are back to back.
Stud Poker. (of a pair) consisting of the hole card and the first upcard: He had aces back to back.

Origin of back to back

First recorded in 1450–1500

Words Nearby back to back

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use back to back in a sentence

Back-to-back Derby winner Yoenis Céspedes will now suit up as an American League outfield reserve.
Can Baseball’s All-Star Game Be Saved? | Peter C. Bjarkman | July 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
So there I was, in the position of doing two shows that were going to be on back-to-back nights.
Allison Janney’s Incredible ‘Double O’ and That ‘Masters of Sex’ Love Scene | Jason Lynch | July 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
There are two back-to-back forty-five-minute segments without commercials.
Why Americans Should Love the World Cup | Sean Wilsey | June 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Not many people would invite two back-to-back prison trips after two years of hard labor.
Putin’s Police Arrest Pussy Riot Again In Court Crackdown | Michael Weiss | February 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Katarina Witt winning back-to-back Gold medals in 1984 and 1988.
The Good, the Bad, and the Pink Eye | Brett Singer | February 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

In any event, the men should be taught to take some form of a closed back-to-back formation.
Infantry Drill Regulations, United States Army, 1911 | United States War Department
Back-to-back, they fired, thrust, hewed and hacked at the swarming enemy.
The Iron Division, National Guard of Pennsylvania, in the World War | H. G. Proctor
Most of the photographs were printed back-to-back, but in this eBook, they appear on the pages given in the List of Illustrations.
United States Steel | Arundel Cotter
Here are two back-to-back rear tenements, with dark bedrooms on the south.
The Battle with the Slum | Jacob A. Riis.
T' house wheer I'd bin livin' were a back-to-back house, facin' north, so as we niver gat no sun thro' yeer's end to yeer's end.
More Tales of the Ridings | Frederic Moorman

British Dictionary definitions for back-to-back

back-to-back

adjective(usually postpositive)

facing in opposite directions, often with the backs touching
mainly British (of urban houses) built so that their backs are joined or separated only by a narrow alley

informal consecutive
commerce
- denoting a credit arrangement in which a finance house acts as an intermediary to conceal the identity of the seller from the buyer
- denoting a loan from one company to another in a different country using a finance house to provide the loan but not the funding

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with back to back

back to back

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]

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