go back

verb

went back; gone back; going back; goes back

intransitive

1

: to return to a place, activity, or situation

I forgot my phone and had to go back.

I left school but later went back.

Once you do this, there's no going back. [=you cannot undo what has been done]

2

: to have existed for a particular amount of time or since a particular period

traditions that go back to ancient times

3

: to have known each other for a particular amount of time or for a long time

We go back 30 years.

They go way back.

4

: to think or talk about something from the past

To understand, you have to go back to when it started.

see also:

go back on

Examples of go back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For now, analysts have Nike chief executive officer Elliott Hill’s promise that the team will introduce more than a dozen footwear styles that are all new instead of going back to the vault and doing old retro shoes. — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026

Those roots go back to 1952, when Moncler began in the French Alps as a maker of tents and sleeping bags. — Luke Leitch, Vogue, 5 Oct. 2026

Maybe go back to the drawing board with all those other dudes standing around. — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026

The defense having to go back out there a couple times when Detroit got a couple of stops. — Charlotte Observer, 5 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for go back

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