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 we were to go back to steam and hydraulics with the elevators, we need to really understand the total cost of that,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
"Over the years there have been tons of suggestions for us to go back on the road but, until now, it never felt quite right or lined up for all of us," they said.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
“I think any time there’s a little breakthrough they kind of go back over and push some more sand up,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
"Where it gets even more complicated is that there are some goods that go back and forth across the border multiple times," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
She decides to go back to her home in Manila.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
