go back

phraseA22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To go back is to return to where you were before. Retracing the way you came.

It differs from come back by point of view, since you go back to somewhere away from the speaker. There is a second sense about time, since a friendship that goes back thirty years began then, and going back to a subject means returning to it in conversation. Going back on a promise means breaking it, and that use always carries reproach.

Definitions of go back

1phrasego backTo return to a place you were before.A2
“I have to go back for my umbrella.”
2phraseextendTo extend back in time.B2
“Their friendship will go back forty years next spring.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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go back

phraseA22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To go back is to return to where you were before. Retracing the way you came.

Definitions of go back

1phrasego backTo return to a place you were before.A2
“I have to go back for my umbrella.”
2phraseextendTo extend back in time.B2
“Their friendship will go back forty years next spring.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word