back button

noun

|Updated on: 26 Jul 2018

Definition of back button

computers

: an icon on a computer screen that typically depicts a backward pointing arrow and that returns the user to a previously shown window or web page — called also back arrow

Recent Examples of back button from the Web

The current build of Android P shows the old back button design, which is just an outline.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Android P Preview 2 hands on—New recent apps, awful gesture nav, and more!," 14 May 2018
Microsoft is using shadow effects across Fluent Design, alongside modernizing context menus and implementing consistent back button controls in apps.

— tom warren, The Verge, "Microsoft reveals the future of its Fluent Design for Windows 10," 9 May 2018
The rest of the time, the back button appears and works like normal.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Android P Preview 2 hands on—New recent apps, awful gesture nav, and more!," 14 May 2018
The home button was a pill shape instead of a circle, the back button used an older design, and the recent apps button was missing.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Google I/O 2018 preview—What we’re expecting from Google’s big show," 30 Apr. 2018
The blue color scheme indicates that the phone is running the Pixel theme, so the back button should be solid white.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Google shows off Android P’s gesture navigation, quickly deletes image," 13 Apr. 2018
The case is circular, but four slight corners give it a phantom square shape, with home and back buttons on its right edge.

— valentina palladino, Ars Technica, "Gear Sport review: The only fitness watch for Samsung die-hards," 11 Mar. 2018
The remote has five buttons: the menu button (which usually ends up working like a back button), a play/pause toggle, a Siri button, an up-and-down volume control, and the TV button.

— samuel axon, Ars Technica, "Apple TV 4K review: Ambition, meet reality," 9 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'back button.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.