hark back

British  

verb

1. (intr, adverb) to return to an earlier subject, point, or position, as in speech or thought

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hark back Idioms  

1. Return to a previous point, as in Let us hark back briefly to my first statement. This expression originally alluded to hounds retracing their course when they have lost their quarry's scent. It may be dying out. [First half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hark back

Indisputably, there are signs—some of which hark back to the dot-com era—that it is.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Full Moons have these names that hark back to ancient traditions before modern calendars were used.

From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026

The commuters in “Le Métro” hark back to his early streetcar scenes but now there’s an air of mystery to the straphangers, with the central figure’s face obscured and bisected by a subway pole.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

People loved the vintage look of the pink toilets, which hark back to a time when bathrooms — whole houses, really — weren’t quite so bland and boring.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025

Sometimes in public, hearing a stranger, I’d hark back to my past.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

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Related Words

• degenerate
• go back
• react
• regress
• turn back

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