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

There’s no going back and key aspects of patient care—not to mention healthare’s profound administrative bloat—stand to improve quickly. —Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

One potential obstacle to my Orthodox conversion was that my second husband, Jacob, was a kohen, a member of a priestly male hereditary line going back to the time of Moses, and according to the Talmud kohanim are forbidden to marry converts. —Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024

Rolling Fork Spirits revive a 113-year-old bourbon brand Rolling Fork Spirits announced the return of an iconic bourbon brand with roots going back to 1911 and not seen on retail shelves in years, Bourbon de Luxe. —Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 2 Dec. 2024

For example, Tesla assembly lines are significantly more dangerous than other American car factories, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration complaints, a disparity that goes back nearly a decade. —Michael Loria, USA TODAY, 2 Dec. 2024