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, 9 June 2025

River have a tradition of playing slick football going back to La Maquina, the legendary side of the late ’30s and early ’40s, which nudged South American football forward. —James Horncastle, New York Times, 8 June 2025

The Rays went back up 6-4 when Danny Jansen hit a two-run homer in the fourth. —Compiled From Wire Reports, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 June 2025

Representation, in this case, determines whether a child stays engaged or walks away, with many who found the output results not matching their interests going back to using other creative tools instead. —Ron Schmelzer, Forbes.com, 7 June 2025

Rhymes for go back

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