turn back

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turn back

verb turns back · turning back · turned back

intransitive To reverse direction and retrace one's steps. Realising he had forgotten his briefcase, he turned back and re-entered the office.
Similar: about turn, about face
transitive To cause to reverse direction and retrace one's steps. The barrage of machine-gun fire turned back the encroaching soldiers.
To return to a previous state of being. He stopped drinking for a couple of years, but now he has turned back to his old ways.
transitive To prevent, or refuse to allow, passage or progress. The soldiers turned back all the refugees at the frontier.
Similar: drive away, repel, turn away, stop
transitive To adjust to a previous setting. In Autumn we normally turn the clocks back one hour.
transitive To fold something back; to fold down. When you make the bed, please always turn the sheet back over the blanket.
obsolete, transitive To give back; to return. We turn not back the silks upon the merchants, When we have soiled them; nor the remainder viands.

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MLA

"turn back." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/turn%20back. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

turn back. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/turn%20back

Chicago

"turn back." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/turn%20back.

BibTeX

@misc{turn_back_2026,
  title = {turn back},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/turn%20back},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}