backward and forward

Idioms  

1. Also, backwards and forwards.

2. Same as back and forth .

3. Thoroughly, completely, as in He read the speech over and over, until he knew it backwards and forwards . [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

As if he had finally made up his mind, the big monkey squalled again and started moving backward and forward on the limb—all the time uttering those deep grunts.

From Literature

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

In the book he emphasizes that the readiness is all, learning his lines backward and forward before the first rehearsal.

From Los Angeles Times

Every renaissance is Janus-faced, he notes, looking “backward and forward at the same time.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Didion’s grief ripples backward and forward as she struggles to make sense of time.

From Los Angeles Times