back to back
Americanadverb
adjective
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adjacent or contiguous but oppositely oriented; having the backs close together or adjoining.
The seats in the day coach are back to back.
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Stud Poker. (of a pair) consisting of the hole card and the first upcard.
He had aces back to back.
adjective
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facing in opposite directions, often with the backs touching
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(of urban houses) built so that their backs are joined or separated only by a narrow alley
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informal consecutive
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commerce
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denoting a credit arrangement in which a finance house acts as an intermediary to conceal the identity of the seller from the buyer
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denoting a loan from one company to another in a different country using a finance house to provide the loan but not the funding
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noun
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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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Consecutively, one after another, as in I'm exhausted; I had three meetings back to back . [Mid-1900s]
Etymology
Origin of back to back
First recorded in 1450–1500
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.
It also filled a gap from April 22, shortly after back to back bottoming bullish counterattack and engulfing candles on April 7 and 9.
From Barron's
Trouble arguably began with back to back doji candles last August and resurfaced again in December.
From Barron's
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
From Los Angeles Times
I flashed back to back in the early aughts when you were doing “Scrubs” and you called me up and asked me if I would do something.
From Los Angeles Times
Only three other acts have gone back to back in record of the year: Billie Eilish, U2 and the late Roberta Flack.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
