as in to repel
to drive back
a cavalry charge that was turned back by withering fire
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of turn back
Blountville native Abi Bowen turns back on judges, Luke Bryan duets with contestant
Blountville, Tenn.
—
Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
Everyone turned to look at it, and then everyone turned back to look at Walker.
—Helen Schulman, The Atlantic, 26 June 2025
Mahomes and the Chiefs will have a new-look offense with hopes that Travis Kelce could tap into his younger self and turn back the clock to help the team back to the Super Bowl.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 7 July 2025
That timeline might be fitting since the Ducks turned back the clock with the hire of coach Joel Quenneville, who will be 67 when the puck drops on the season opener and won Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015 with the Chicago Blackhawks.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for turn back
Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
Everyone turned to look at it, and then everyone turned back to look at Walker.
—Helen Schulman, The Atlantic, 26 June 2025
Mahomes and the Chiefs will have a new-look offense with hopes that Travis Kelce could tap into his younger self and turn back the clock to help the team back to the Super Bowl.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 7 July 2025
That timeline might be fitting since the Ducks turned back the clock with the hire of coach Joel Quenneville, who will be 67 when the puck drops on the season opener and won Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015 with the Chicago Blackhawks.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for turn back
Recent Examples of Synonyms for turn back
Verb
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Fill the hot water, add a small amount of dish soap, and a disinfecting spray to repel odors and maintain bacteria at bay.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
11 July 2025
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The massive aerial assault involved 728 drones and 13 missiles, Ukraine’s Air Force said, eclipsing the previous record number of 539 drones, set on July 4, by hundreds – but it was largely repelled, with the damage limited and no immediate reports of deaths.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
9 July 2025
Verb
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All good people, regardless of fundamental beliefs, need to vigorously, with courage, resist the sickness that is Trump and MAGA.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 July 2025
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While other European markets have struggled with EV sales or considered rolling back clean transport policies, the UK has resisted industry calls for rollbacks and its committed to its long range policies.—
Margo T. Oge,
Forbes.com,
15 July 2025
Verb
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The clinic saw people with treatable cancers whose cases were turned away from local hospital after local hospital.—
Rachel Pearson,
New Yorker,
13 July 2025
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The call was overturned, and the Royals were turned away amid heavy boos from the crowd.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
13 July 2025
Verb
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In Liberia, especially, the Peace Corps volunteers were repulsed by the ways that Americo-Liberians — the descendants of the Black Americans who founded the country — oppressed indigenous ethnic groups.—
Jonathan Zimmerman,
New York Daily News,
16 July 2025
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After a disastrous trip to Mexico where Irina appeared repulsed by everything Zack did, the couple split and Zack went crawling back to Bliss.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
13 June 2025
Verb
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Advertisement Despite the scale of distribution, the UN has warned that aid provided through GHF represents only a fraction of what is needed to stave off starvation for Gaza’s population of more than two million.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
16 July 2025
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Several lobbyists offered various reasons for being unable to stave off big cuts to Medicaid, the $900 billion state-federal health insurance program that covers low-income and disabled people and accounts for 19% of all spending on hospital care. .—
Phil Galewitz,
NPR,
14 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Turn back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turn%20back. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
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