fight back

phrasal verb

fought back; fighting back; fights back

1

: to attack or try to defeat someone who is attacking or trying to defeat oneself

We can't just let them make these accusations against us. We need to fight back!

2

: to make a new effort against an opponent

They fell behind early in the game, but they were able to fight back and tie the score in the second half.

Examples of fight back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Is there, to your mind, a business case for fighting back? —Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2025

Arms have become shorthand for discipline, control, and a woman's capacity to fight back. —Anne Marie Chaker, Time, 20 Sep. 2025

The tough, ingenious (and dirt-poor) Houthis, protected by Yemen’s mountainous interior, fought back with the tenacity of drug-resistant microbes. —Seth Harp, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025

Four men were sentenced to prison for their roles in an RV robbery where the victim fought back before he was gunned down, court records show. —Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for fight back

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback