go back
Britishverb
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to return
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(often foll by to) to originate (in)
the links with France go back to the Norman Conquest
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(foll by on) to change one's mind about; repudiate (esp in the phrase go back on one's word )
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(of clocks and watches) to be set to an earlier time, as during British Summer Time
when do the clocks go back this year?
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Return, retrace one's steps; also, return to a former condition. For example, I'm going back to the haunts of my youth , or We want to go back to the old way of doing things . [First half of 1500s]
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Extend backward in space or time, as in Our land goes back to the stone wall , or The family name goes back to Norman times . [Second half of 1600s] Also see go back on .
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.
“If I could go back in time, I would never have reposted an AI ad.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
“Like a lot of Americans,” she said, “I’m one or two big emergencies away from being like, ‘Oh God, I’m going to go back into debt.’”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
"When you live your whole life that way and you finally have some peace, you don't want to go back there," she says.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
When I go back home, I feel like it can really be that simple.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
I wanted to go back to the strand to hide.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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.
