backward and forward

backward and forward idiom
    Also, backwards and forwards.
  1. Same as back and forth.
  2. Thoroughly, completely, as in He read the speech over and over, until he knew it backwards and forwards. [Late 1500s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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