back to back
adverb
(of two similar events) following one immediately after the other; in unbroken sequence; consecutively.
Jump To:
-
back to back
-
back-to-back
back-to-backadjectivefacing in opposite directions, often with the backs touching
back to back
Americanadverb
adjective
-
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.
back-to-back
British
adjective
-
facing in opposite directions, often with the backs touching
-
(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
back to back
Idioms
-
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]
-
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
Explanation
Back-to-back things come right after each other. Two back-to-back baseball games are played in a row. Back-to-back has been used to describe houses that are literally back-to-back with no separation. These days, back-to-back events happen consecutively. A baseball player with back-to-back home runs hit two in a row. A President with back-to-back victories won two elections in a row. There's no separation between back-to-back things, like how if your back was pressed against someone else’s back, nothing could fit in between. Sometimes people use the term back-to-back-to-back for things that happen three times in a row.
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:
And after playing these two characters back to back, what have you sort of learned yourself, about your power or finding your voice, especially in an industry like Hollywood?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
El Niño and La Niña often alternate, but sometimes we can have two of the same event back to back.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
“You have to understand camera composition, which shots are changed. Like you can’t have two close-ups back to back, you have to start with an establishing shot,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Hampshire have three more back to back - starting at home to Glamorgan on Friday - before England's first Test of the summer.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
Sitting back to back and watching the road.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Just a few miles from the Hollywood stairwell where we’re sitting, Kelela will translate her genre-flexing record for the stage at the Wiltern during two back-to-back shows on Sept. 21 and 22.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
According to his analysis, going back to 1945, the second and third quarters of midterm election years have registered the only back-to-back quarterly declines for the stock market, on average, during four-year presidential cycles.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
The NFL kickoff served as a timely reminder that while other teams have received more early hype, the Seahawks still figure to be a force as they try to win back-to-back titles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Progression to the last four marks back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals for the two-time major champion and her first in New York since winning the title in 2023.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Two young women stood back-to-back performing a slam poem called “Hir,” rotating to face the mic as they gave voice to a girl named Melissa and the boy inside her named James.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
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.
