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

Wait 30 minutes after the last lightning or thunder before going back outside. —Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 14 July 2025

So Continenza went back and examined Kodak’s core competencies, and checked in with consumers—a group that Continenza said had been ignored at times. —Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025

That last one was a mild surprise since he’s avoided his Michael Jackson parodies over the past few years due the revelations of Finding Neverland, and simple exhaustion after playing them every show going back to the Eighties. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 13 July 2025

The others went back down and helped lift her onto the roof. —Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 13 July 2025

Rhymes for go back

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