square one

noun

: the initial stage or starting point

the failure set us back to square one

Examples of square one in a Sentence

They lost everything and found themselves back at square one.

Recent Examples on the Web

Also, there have been suggestions made on TV this week that James made up his mind, changed it and is back to square one. — Joe Vardon, New York Times, 23 July 2026

But if the city moves ahead with selling the property, then Cal Coast will use bankruptcy rules to withhold payment for up to five years and simultaneously force the city to restart the development process from square one. — Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 23 June 2026

Thousands of lives were lost to arrive back to square one. — Farah N. Jan, The Conversation, 15 June 2026

The companies seeing measurable impact are the ones willing to go back to square one, rethink their workflows and build AI directly into how work gets done. — Jo Debecker, Forbes.com, 9 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

from the use of numbered squares in some board games

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for square one

• atony
• baloney
• begone
• canzone
• estrone
• fanconi
• mansoni
• moloney
• morone
• ngoni
• pallone
• quinone

Kids Definition

square one

noun

: the first stage or starting point

back to square one