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

Although routine, direct measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere began in the 1950s, scientists are able to use other methods to estimate how much carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere going back millions of years. —Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 7 June 2024

That’s the lowest monthly figure on record — outside of the peak pandemic period — in data going back 24 years. —Rachel Ventresca, Fortune, 7 June 2024

The season typically dies down when kids go back to school. —Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 7 June 2024

Fallon goes back into the final monologue to make any last-minute alterations. —Randee Dawn, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2024