back [1] (ADVERB USES)
In addition to the uses shown below, back is also used in phrasal verbs such as `date back' and `fall back on'.
Please look at category 17 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1 adv If you move back , you move in the opposite direction to the one in which you are facing or in which you were moving before.
ADV after v, oft ADV prep
The photographers drew back to let us view the body..., She stepped back from the door expectantly..., He pushed her away and she fell back on the wooden bench...
2 adv If you go back somewhere, you return to where you were before.
ADV after v, be ADV, oft ADV prep/adv
I went back to bed..., I'm due back in London by late afternoon..., Smith changed his mind and moved back home..., I'll be back as soon as I can..., He made a round-trip to the terminal and back.
3 adv If someone or something is back in a particular state, they were in that state before and are now in it again.
ADV after v, be ADV, oft ADV prep
The rail company said it expected services to get slowly back to normal..., Denise hopes to be back at work by the time her daughter is one...
4 adv If you give or put something back , you return it to the person who had it or to the place where it was before you took it. If you get or take something back , you then have it again after not having it for a while.
ADV after v, oft ADV prep
She handed the knife back..., Put it back in the freezer..., You'll get your money back.
5 adv If you put a clock or watch back , you change the time shown on it so that it shows an earlier time, for example when the time changes to winter time or standard time.
ADV after v
6 adv If you write or call back , you write to or telephone someone after they have written to or telephoned you. If you look back at someone, you look at them after they have started looking at you.
ADV after v, oft ADV prep
They wrote back to me and they told me that I didn't have to do it..., If the phone rings say you'll call back after dinner..., Lee looked at Theodora. She stared back.
7 adv You can say that you go or come back to a particular point in a conversation to show that you are mentioning or discussing it again.
ADV after v, ADV to n
Can I come back to the question of policing once again?..., Going back to the school, how many staff are there?
8 adv If something is or comes back , it is fashionable again after it has been unfashionable for some time.
ADV after v, be ADV, oft ADV prep
Short skirts are back..., Consensus politics could easily come back into fashion.
9 adv If someone or something is kept or situated back from a place, they are at a distance away from it.
ADV after v, be ADV, oft ADV from n
Keep back from the edge of the platform..., I'm a few miles back from the border..., He started for Dot's bedroom and Myrtle held him back.
10 adv If something is held or tied back , it is held or tied so that it does not hang loosely over something.
ADV after v
The curtains were held back by tassels.
11 adv If you lie or sit back , you move your body backwards into a relaxed sloping or flat position, with your head and body resting on something.
ADV after v (Antonym: forward)
She lay back and stared at the ceiling..., She leaned back in her chair and smiled.
12 adv If you look or shout back at someone or something, you turn to look or shout at them when they are behind you.
ADV after v, oft ADV prep
Nick looked back over his shoulder and then stopped, frowning..., He called back to her.
13 adv You use back in expressions like back in London or back at the house when you are giving an account, to show that you are going to start talking about what happened or was happening in the place you mention.
ADV with v, ADV prep
Meanwhile, back in London, Palace Pictures was collapsing..., Later, back at home, the telephone rang.
14 adv If you talk about something that happened back in the past or several years back , you are emphasizing that it happened quite a long time ago.
ADV with v, ADV prep, n ADV (emphasis)
The story starts back in 1950, when I was five..., He contributed £50m to the project a few years back.
15 adv If you think back to something that happened in the past, you remember it or try to remember it.
ADV after v, ADV to n
I thought back to the time in 1975 when my son was desperately ill...
16 If someone moves back and forth, they repeatedly move in one direction and then in the opposite direction.
back and forth phrase PHR after v
He paced back and forth...
17
→
to cast your mind back
→
mind
