go back

phrasal verb

went back; gone back; going back; goes back

: 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.

: 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.

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

These ruins go back hundreds of years.

: to have known each other for an amount of time

We go back 30 years.

He and I go back a long way.

: 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

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

And almost 100% of the proceeds went back to the chefs. —

Noel Burgess, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024 That would be the second-lowest October before a presidential election on record going back to 1980. —

Matt Egan, CNN, 29 Oct. 2024 Brian Deese had made a similar point: industrial strategy is a venerable American tradition, going back to the days of the Erie Canal, one that was forgotten for a few decades, with terrible effects, and is now being revived. —

Nicholas Lemann, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024 Even greater gains have been scored by small caps, at least in data going back to 1979, when data began. —

Brian Evans, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for go back