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.
"Take back your city NOW," Mr Trump wrote on Thursday.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2020
“This is my fight song. Take back my life song. ...”
From Washington Post • Feb. 7, 2018
After the 2016 referendum, something new popped on to my to-do list, usually appearing somewhere after Take back library books and before Book dentist appointment: Apply for German citizenship.
From The Guardian • Nov. 12, 2017
Take back fajitas from the chain restaurant with this steak variation.
From New York Times • May 11, 2016
“Oh my God, you look adorable. Take back what I said about you looking like your dad—you look like a doll. Oh, God, I see the appeal of dressing a child.”
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
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.
