go back

verb

went back; gone back; going back; goes back

intransitive

1

: to return to a place, activity, or situation

I forgot my phone and had to go back.

I left school but later went back.

Once you do this, there's no going back. [=you cannot undo what has been done]

2

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

traditions that go back to ancient times

3

: to have known each other for a particular amount of time or for a long time

We go back 30 years.

They go way back.

4

: to think or talk about something from the past

To understand, you have to go back to when it started.

see also:

go back on

Examples of go back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tough to go back to nachos with plastic cheese after that, huh? —Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 June 2026

That deep connection to the ocean goes back to the ancient Polynesians, who were the world’s first watermen, using their intimate knowledge of the ocean to navigate the Pacific, discovering Hawaii thousands of years ago. —Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 June 2026

And all of the things that happened today go back to 1994. —Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2026

Some working parents are expected to go back to work just two weeks after having a baby. —Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 7 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for go back

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