back
/bæk/ adverb A1- To or in a previous condition or place. · He gave back the money.· I left my mobile phone back at the hotel. I’ll have to go back and get it.
- In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing. · Someone pushed me in the chest and I fell back.· The grandfather clock toppled back and crashed to the ground.
- In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively. · Wind the film back a few frames.· Don’t forget to put the clocks back by one hour tonight!
- Towards, into or in the past. · These records go back years.· He built a time machine and travelled back to 1800.
- Away from someone or something; at a distance. · Keep back! It could explode at any moment!
- Away from the front or from an edge (of something or someone). · Sit all the way back in your chair.· Step back from the curb.
- So as to shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so. · This tree is dying back.· Clear back all this vegetation.
- In a manner that impedes. · Fear held him back.
Phrasal verbs and expressions
- back away To move in a direction opposite to that which one is faci...
- back down To take a less aggressive position in a conflict than one...
- back in To reverse a vehicle into a space.
- back into To advance to the post-season as a result of another team...
- back off To move backwards away from something.
- back onto To reverse a vehicle onto something.
- back out To reverse (a vehicle) from a confined space.
- back over To reverse a vehicle over; to trample something while rev...
- back up To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so.
From the library
The Scarecrow went sorrowfully back to his friends and told them what Oz had said; and Dorothy was surprised to find that the Great Wizard was not a Head, as she had seen him, but a lovely Lady.
She left Dorothy alone and went back to the others.
“Then the murderer, or whoever it was, first took off this ring you call the nugget ring, then the wedding ring, and afterwards put the nugget ring back again.”
“Father,” said Mercédès, stopping when she had reached the centre of the table, “sit, I pray you, on my right hand; on my left I will place him who has ever been as a brother to me,” pointing with a soft and gentle smile to Fernand; but her words and look seemed to inflict the direst torture on him, for his lips became ghastly pale, and even beneath the dark hue of his complexion the blood might be seen retreating as though some sudden pang drove it back to the heart.
Other matches
- back The rear of the body, especially the part betwe... A1
- back At or near the rear. A2
- back To go in the reverse direction. B1
- back A large shallow vat C2
- back away To move in a direction opposite to that which o...
- back down To take a less aggressive position in a conflic...
- back in To reverse a vehicle into a space.
- back into To advance to the post-season as a result of an...
Learn back in real texts
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