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

After lunch, the schedule included more afternoon training sessions, before going back to the dorms, lights down by 9:30 p.m. sharp every night. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025

The roots of this year’s problems go back to last season. —Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 20 June 2025

The researchers also compiled data on four key negative social conditions – corruption, inequality, poverty and violence – of 183 countries and all 50 US states, going back 20 years to see if there was a connection. —Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 20 June 2025

Here's how to start building AI literacy without going back to school or becoming a data scientist: Start with Your Own Work: Begin by experimenting with AI in your daily tasks, such as drafting emails, summarizing meetings, analyzing data or writing reports. —Caroline Castrillon, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025

Rhymes for go back

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