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

Northwest got the ball to start the overtime, but the Texans made a huge mistake when the snap came unexpectedly and went back 21 yards. —Jordan Neal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Sep. 2025

The most common one is that Bungie should go back to making that set Iron Banner and put that flaming tree back on, and give it out during the event. —Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025

History is also on their side because the party that controls the White House has nearly always lost House seats in the midterm elections going back to 1938. —W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025

Although Ferdinand Porsche gets the credit today, the fundamental design concept for the Volkswagen Beetle goes back to 1925, and can be attributed to Hungarian engineer Béla Barényi. —Robert Ross, Robb Report, 12 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for go back

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