back
1
in or to the direction behind us
- He stepped back to give his friend more room to dance.
- She glanced back to see if anyone was following her.
- After hearing a noise, he turned back to investigate.
- He stepped back to give her some space.
- She glanced back to see who was following her.
Antonyms:
2
in or toward a previous location
- After years abroad, he moved back to his hometown.
- She ran back to grab her forgotten wallet.
- They traveled back to the old family cottage for the holidays.
- He looked back at the house one last time before leaving.
- The kids rushed back to their favorite spot by the lake.
3
in or toward a prior state or condition
- After a short break, he went back to writing his essay.
- The store returned the defective item back to the supplier.
- She’s working hard to get back into shape after her injury.
- The system was finally back online after the outage.
4
to a previous time or an earlier point in history
- She looked back at her childhood with fond memories.
- The company has come a long way since going back to its original ideas.
- Let's go back to when we first started this project.
- He always reminisced about the good times back in his hometown.
- Going back to the 1980s, the fashion trends were quite different.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
5
in response or as a return to a previous statement or action
- He sent a message back to confirm the meeting time.
- She wrote back immediately after receiving my email.
- After the phone call, I called him back to clarify the details.
- They sent their answers back after reviewing the proposal.
- She texted me back with all the details I needed.
Synonyms:
6
in response to a previous action, often to return something or retaliate
- She paid back the money she borrowed last week.
- He punched me, and I hit him back.
- I was kept in detention for talking back to the teacher.
- He returned the favor and helped me back.
- The company is getting back at its competitors with a new campaign.
7
in a position where something or someone is being prevented from acting freely
- He wanted to fight, but his friends held him back.
- She was holding back tears during the meeting.
- He had to hold back his excitement.
- They decided to keep back the details until the project was complete.
- He managed to push back his fear and speak confidently.