go back

phrasal verb

went back; gone back; going back; goes back

: to return to a place

I forgot my purse and had to go back for it.

After college she went back home.

Go back inside! You'll catch cold.

: to return to doing something

I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep.

He waved hello, then went right back to work.

She went back to eating her dinner.

: to have existed for a particular amount of time or since a particular period

These ruins go back hundreds of years.

: to have known each other for an amount of time

We go back 30 years.

He and I go back a long way.

: to think or talk about something from the past

To fully understand the issues, we have to go back a few years.

Examples of go back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Doherty went back to work and also publicized the intimate moments that come with fighting the disease. —

Ale Russian, Rolling Stone, 14 July 2024 To that end, two summers after the accident, Harper and her sister went back out on a tube again. —

Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 13 July 2024 Now, maybe Biden will kind of go back to stasis and be able to get more attention. —

Washington Post Live, Washington Post, 12 July 2024 In the portal, UM went back to Louisville and snagged a Cardinals linebacker for the second year in a row. —

Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 12 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for go back

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'go back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.