back-to-back
1 of 2adjective or adverb
1
: facing in opposite directions and often touching
2
: coming one after the other : consecutive
plural back-to-backs
1
British
: a house that is connected in a row with other houses on each side and with a similar row of houses behind it
These were where the millworkers dwelt, the worst of them known as back-to-backs because that is how they were built, without intervening space.—
Geoffrey Moorhouse
Geoffrey Moorhouse2
sports
: a sequence of two games scheduled to be played on consecutive days
Miami began to beat elite teams and was bloodlessly efficient in the second half of back-to-backs, winning 11 in a row over a three-month stretch, a sign of a team with toughness.—Jack McCallum
Jack McCallumSynonyms
Examples of back-to-back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebTomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 20 Apr. 2024
Snell recorded the first two outs, then gave up back-to-back singles before Randal Grichuk doubled to score two more and put Arizona ahead, 5-1.
—Jason Mastrodonato, The Mercury News, 20 Apr. 2024
Sacramento battled back to cut the deficit to eight following back-to-back 3-pointers from Fox and Davion Mitchell.
—Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 20 Apr. 2024
The mayor said the city — which coordinated two back-to-back snow emergencies in February 2023 — is overdue to rethink how snow response is managed.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 20 Apr. 2024
The senior team captain led the FCS in rushing last season (1,578) and was instrumental in the Jackrabbits’ back-to-back national championships.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Apr. 2024
Grand Duke Henri and King Philippe, 64, are first cousins and share back-to-back birthdays.
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
More context: The last team to win back-to-back titles, Florida in 2006 and 2007, was 28.28 and 30.81.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024
Then Beeks issued back-to-back walks, nicely setting the table for the Rays.
—Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 8 Apr. 2024
Adjective or adverb
During the week, fans speculated that Cabello may be the special guest for Del Rey on Weekend Two after Del Rey posted photos of Eilish and Cabello back-to-back on Instagram, seemingly hinting at her guests.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 20 Apr. 2024
Snell recorded the first two outs, then gave up back-to-back singles before Randal Grichuk doubled to score two more and put Arizona ahead, 5-1.
—Jason Mastrodonato, The Mercury News, 20 Apr. 2024
Sacramento battled back to cut the deficit to eight following back-to-back 3-pointers from Fox and Davion Mitchell.
—Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 20 Apr. 2024
The mayor said the city — which coordinated two back-to-back snow emergencies in February 2023 — is overdue to rethink how snow response is managed.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 20 Apr. 2024
The senior team captain led the FCS in rushing last season (1,578) and was instrumental in the Jackrabbits’ back-to-back national championships.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Apr. 2024
Grand Duke Henri and King Philippe, 64, are first cousins and share back-to-back birthdays.
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
More context: The last team to win back-to-back titles, Florida in 2006 and 2007, was 28.28 and 30.81.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024
Then Beeks issued back-to-back walks, nicely setting the table for the Rays.
—Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 8 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'back-to-back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near back-to-back
Cite this Entry
“Back-to-back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/back-to-back. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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