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back button

American

[bak buh-tuhn] / ˈbæk ˌbʌ tən /

noun

an icon on an electronic device or screen, usually depicting a leftward-facing arrow, which, when pressed, returns the user to the previous webpage, screen, or selection.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

back buttons

plural

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:

back button

Back button hijacking is when a website interferes with a browser so the back button no longer takes users to the previous page, instead often keeping them on the site or presenting unsolicited ads.

From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026

Press the back button to return to the App info screen, then scroll up to Permissions to turn on microphone access if it isn’t selected already.

From The Verge ● Jul. 26, 2022

Label the note and hit the back button.

From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2021

The way that I listen when I’m truly enthralled by a particular piece of music certainly feels like a crush—picking up the tone arm, hitting the back button, refreshing the browser, over and over.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 26, 2018

The little boy had been twisting himself despairingly, and now said in a small voice, "Mother, I've tried and I've tried and I can't do that back button."

From The Brimming Cup by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023