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.
The singer is already remembering the present before it has ended, the lyric moving backward and forward in time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
This, it was concluded, was most likely caused by the repetitive backward and forward movement of an unsupported infant's head pivoting on the neck.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
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
They require a velvet touch when operating so you don’t create shallow dips where the machine changes direction as you go backward and forward.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
The spider leapt from Moody’s hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" 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.
