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

Let’s go back now and trace some big moments in your career, starting with your time in the E Street Band back in 2009. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2026

Wait for 30 minutes after the last lightning or thunder before going back out. —Star-Telegram Weather Bot, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Apr. 2026

Others went back to roaming the hillsides with their livestock. —Julie Bourdin, NPR, 11 Apr. 2026

Six years after her ablation, she's not gone back into AFib. —Cbs Miami Team, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for go back

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