take back
Britishverb
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to retract or withdraw (something said, written, promised, etc)
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to regain possession of
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to return for exchange
to take back a substandard garment
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to accept (someone) back (into one's home, affections, etc)
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to remind one of the past; cause one to reminisce
that tune really takes me back
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(also intr) printing to move (copy) to the previous line
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Retract a statement, as in I said you weren't much of a cook but after that dinner I take it all back . This usage was first recorded in 1775.
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take one back . Return in thought to a past time, as in That music takes me back to the first dance I ever went to . [Late 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.
“To the independent filmmakers here, it’s time to take back power.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
All were now fighting together to take back their country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I mean, I knew even then, it wasn’t my best story. It was something that I immediately wanted to take back and do over again.”
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
Intense fighting took place overnight from Friday to Saturday, before the army and its Russian Africa Corps allies managed to take back control late in the day.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Too worried that if I started talking, I might say something I couldn’t take back.
From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
