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go back on

Idioms  

  1. Fail to honor or keep, as in You can't go back on your word, or One should never go back on a promise. [Mid-1800s]

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 museum said it was "relieved and grateful" to get the artefacts back, but they could not go back on display immediately.

From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026

Another less-studied phenomenon is when people stop taking a GLP-1 and then decide they want to go back on the medication.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

The government's "hands are tied when it comes to financially supporting nuclear power, unless it's willing to go back on one of the main selling points", Koppenborg says.

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026

In effect, the paintings are “repatriated” once they return to Mexico, and they can’t go back on the global market.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 9, 2025

They assured her that she could go back on night work in the summer if she wished.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

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.