go back

phrasal verb

went back; gone back; going back; goes back

1

: to return to a place

I forgot my purse and had to go back for it.

After college she went back home.

Go back inside! You'll catch cold.

2

: to return to doing something

I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep.

He waved hello, then went right back to work.

She went back to eating her dinner.

3

: to have existed for a particular amount of time or since a particular period

These ruins go back hundreds of years.

4

: to have known each other for an amount of time

We go back 30 years.

He and I go back a long way.

5

: to think or talk about something from the past

To fully understand the issues, we have to go back a few years.

Examples of go back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Coupang Solution Coupang has been trying stabilize the Farfetch business by going back to basics. —Samantha Conti, WWD, 16 Dec. 2024

After the concert, the women, some of their friends, and a group including the two defendants went back to one of the women’s homes for a party. —Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 16 Dec. 2024

The group’s roots go back to November 1924 when LeRoy V. Brant organized a choir of more than 150 singers accompanied by a 25-piece orchestra from around the Santa Clara Valley for a Harvest Musical Festival held at what was then known as San Jose State Teachers College. —Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 15 Dec. 2024

Even if that happens, their battle with the insurer will go back to square one. —Annie Waldman, CNN, 14 Dec. 2024