backward and forward
Idioms-
Also, backwards and forwards.
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Same as back and forth .
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Thoroughly, completely, as in He read the speech over and over, until he knew it backwards and forwards . [Late 1500s]
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.
Language, which evolved within the past 200,000 years, endowed our species with the ability to plan for the future and reflect on the past, thus extending our selves backward and forward in time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026
Didion’s grief ripples backward and forward as she struggles to make sense of time.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2025
In the Scientific Reports study, the scientists designed various tasks to assess the participants’ ability to produce words backward and forward.
From Scientific American • Oct. 12, 2023
"Kinross is also really bad for taxis, so we're providing another service that get people backward and forward - it's provided a social element to a small village."
From BBC • Aug. 23, 2023
The elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face between his knees, and began to rock backward and forward.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
