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

Star power has always been a staple of the Ocean's franchise, even going back to its Rat Pack-starring source material. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 3 May 2025

As the ball went back to Raya on this occasion, Dembele can be seen motioning across to Kvaratskhelia to push up. —Art De Roché, New York Times, 2 May 2025

All profits that don’t go back into the business are used to support scientific research and cultural projects. —Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 1 May 2025

The friendship between the trainer and owner goes back more than three decades. —John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025

Rhymes for go back

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback