double back
verb
doubled back; doubling back; doubles back
: to turn around and return on the same path
I'm going to double back to see if I dropped the ring on the way here.
Examples of double back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One of the two tankers, linked to Pakistan, has since doubled back and was waiting just outside the strait, Pamela Munger, head of Europe market analysis at Vortexa, a trade and shipping intelligence firm, told CNN.
—
Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 12 Apr. 2026
Up the stairs onto the elevated tracks, wait two minutes, double back again, through the park, across the basketball courts, around the corner.
—Zayd Ayers Dohrn, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2026
The 34-year-old had followed a race motorbike off-course in the final mile, forcing himself to then double back in confusion to rejoin the route.
—Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2026
Wall pointed to a key safety provision built into the course around Mile 18, where the route doubles back toward the finish so runners could cross to the return side rather than continuing through the most demanding stretch.
—Michelle Edgar, Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
However, in a Saturday update to social media, Ciccarelli doubled back in a big way.
—Rhyma Castillo, San Antonio Express-News, 9 Feb. 2026
Blaxell displays a kind of flexible intelligence throughout the book — her sentences dart forward and double back on themselves.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
After that first week, Preller doubled back.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Nov. 2025
But that principle was abandoned nine years later, with the court doubling back on its position.
—Andrea Katz, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2025
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Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 12 Apr. 2026
Up the stairs onto the elevated tracks, wait two minutes, double back again, through the park, across the basketball courts, around the corner.
—Zayd Ayers Dohrn, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2026
The 34-year-old had followed a race motorbike off-course in the final mile, forcing himself to then double back in confusion to rejoin the route.
—Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2026
Wall pointed to a key safety provision built into the course around Mile 18, where the route doubles back toward the finish so runners could cross to the return side rather than continuing through the most demanding stretch.
—Michelle Edgar, Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
However, in a Saturday update to social media, Ciccarelli doubled back in a big way.
—Rhyma Castillo, San Antonio Express-News, 9 Feb. 2026
Blaxell displays a kind of flexible intelligence throughout the book — her sentences dart forward and double back on themselves.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
After that first week, Preller doubled back.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Nov. 2025
But that principle was abandoned nine years later, with the court doubling back on its position.
—Andrea Katz, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Double back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/double%20back. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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