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

After being hit on the head, Maher tried to fight back but was stabbed several times. —Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 21 Dec. 2025

Chicago had a 66-55 lead at halftime and was up 74-60 early in the third quarter before Cleveland fought back with a 27-9 surge. —CBS News, 20 Dec. 2025

Sure enough, Andrew starts to play his sadistic mind games with Millie, who eventually manages to fight back and lock him upstairs. —Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 20 Dec. 2025

Over a dozen leaders across Miami-Dade County gathered during Hanukkah on Thursday to address rising incidents of antisemitism and to send a strong message to the South Florida community to fight back against hate. —Miami Herald, 18 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for fight back

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