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

Chicken rice is a serious business in East and Southeast Asia, and the recipe at this prosaic storefront has a lineage that goes back to the celebrated version introduced in the 1970s at Chatterbox in Singapore. —Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026

This story goes back further than the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. —Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 10 May 2026

Wait 30 minutes after the last lightning or thunder before going back outside. —Star-Telegram Weather Bot, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 May 2026

Neighbors told officers that English-Wheat used to go back and forth from Prindle's home and take out the trash, but had not been seen at the residence in months, according to the statement obtained by WCIA. —Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 9 May 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