go back

go back idiom
  1. Return, retrace one's steps; also, return to a former condition. For example, I'm going back to the haunts of my youth, or We want to go back to the old way of doing things. [First half of 1500s]
  2. Extend backward in space or time, as in Our land goes back to the stone wall, or The family name goes back to Norman times. [Second half of 1600s] Also see go back on.

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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