go back
phrasal verb
went back; gone back; going back; goes back
1
: 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.
2
: 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.
3
: to have existed for a particular amount of time or since a particular period
These ruins go back hundreds of years.
4
: to have known each other for an amount of time
We go back 30 years.
He and I go back a long way.
5
: 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
And then today, the OGs, Joe Budden and Skillz, went back and forth over Cole’s backtracking.
—
Angel Diaz, Billboard, 8 Apr. 2024
Advertisement In fact, the delay goes back even further.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2024
Bob Iger can go back to work overhauling Disney now that activist investor Nelson Peltz has been dispatched, and the veteran CEO for one believes that’s a good thing for shareholders.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
So John went back to the hospital and spent a month on powerful antibiotics pumped directly into a vein near his heart.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 4 Apr. 2024
In the motion, the lawyers argued that children who have not yet been formally apprehended deserve the same safe and sanitary housing as those already in official custody, since they are forbidden from moving from the camps and have no way of going back over the border.
—Emily Baumgaertner, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
After healing for two years, Shrader went back to hustling, scars and all.
—Longreads, 4 Apr. 2024
The cousin then went back to the Figueroas’ home on Northwest 114th Street Drive and told his parents what was happening.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
So, now, after the kids' eggs have been found, the teenagers go back outside to hide giant eggs for the adults.
—Amy Schwabe, Journal Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2024
Angel Diaz, Billboard, 8 Apr. 2024
Advertisement In fact, the delay goes back even further.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2024
Bob Iger can go back to work overhauling Disney now that activist investor Nelson Peltz has been dispatched, and the veteran CEO for one believes that’s a good thing for shareholders.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
So John went back to the hospital and spent a month on powerful antibiotics pumped directly into a vein near his heart.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 4 Apr. 2024
In the motion, the lawyers argued that children who have not yet been formally apprehended deserve the same safe and sanitary housing as those already in official custody, since they are forbidden from moving from the camps and have no way of going back over the border.
—Emily Baumgaertner, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
After healing for two years, Shrader went back to hustling, scars and all.
—Longreads, 4 Apr. 2024
The cousin then went back to the Figueroas’ home on Northwest 114th Street Drive and told his parents what was happening.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
So, now, after the kids' eggs have been found, the teenagers go back outside to hide giant eggs for the adults.
—Amy Schwabe, Journal Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2024
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.
Dictionary Entries Near go back
Cite this Entry
“Go back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/go%20back. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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