verb + back

To reply rudely or cheekily to someone in authority, especially a parent or teacher.

To invite someone to come back to your home or a place after they have left, or to invite someone in return after they have invited you.

To force someone or something to retreat by fighting or resisting strongly.

To retaliate sharply against criticism or an attack; or to stop yourself from saying or showing something.

To recover quickly and successfully after a difficult period or setback.

To return something to a place or person, or to cause memories or feelings to resurface.

To sweep hair backwards away from the face; or (baseball) to throw a pitch that forces a batter to move away from the plate.

To purchase something that was previously sold or given away; especially when a company repurchases its own shares.

To phone someone again, especially in return for a call they made to you, or to ask someone to return to a place.

To return to a topic, person, or location that was left earlier in order to revisit it

To respond to criticism or an insult with a sharp, confident, and often witty comeback

To recover something that was lost, especially money or an advantage, with great effort.

To return to a place, state, or activity.

Not a widely established standard phrasal verb; may appear in niche culinary or dialectal contexts meaning to reheat or cook again.

To reduce the amount, size, or extent of something, especially spending or activity; also to prune a plant.

To have existed since a particular time in the past; to originate from a specific historical period.

To reduce the intensity, extent, or level of something; to moderate.

Of a plant: to have its stems and leaves die off while the roots remain alive, typically in winter.

To turn around and return along the same route you just came from.

To return somewhere by driving, or to force a person or group to retreat.

To move to a position further behind others in a group, race, or ranking, either deliberately or because of slower progress.

To move backward or retreat, especially under pressure.

To return to a previous habit, pattern, or state, usually an unwanted one.

To use a reserve resource, skill, or option when other choices are unavailable.

A formal variant of 'fall back on'; to use a reserve resource when other options are exhausted.

To defend yourself by attacking or opposing someone who has attacked you, or to struggle to suppress an emotion.

For the mind or a narrative to suddenly return to an earlier time or memory.

To return to a place or situation, or to retrieve something that was lost or taken.

To return something to the person it belongs to, or to contribute to a community as a way of expressing gratitude.

To return to a place, person, or state; or to date from a period in the past.

To fail to honour a promise, agreement, or decision that was previously made.

To return to a place, person, activity, or topic.

To return something to the person it belongs to or came from.

To hesitate or be reluctant to move forward or participate, often due to shyness or uncertainty.

To refer back to something from the past, or to recall and resemble an earlier time or style.

A variant of 'hark back': to refer to or evoke something from the past.

To evoke, refer to, or be reminiscent of something from the past.

To respond to an attack or criticism with an equally strong counter-attack or response.

To prevent someone or something from moving forward, or to restrain an emotion or piece of information.

To respond to someone who has contacted or called out to you

To respond or reply to someone who called out to you or contacted you

To return to a previous position, level, or state very gradually and slowly.

To relax completely and do nothing; to receive or pay an illegal payment as a bribe; or to recoil from a force.

To recline into a relaxed, horizontal or near-horizontal position by leaning backwards.

To think about or consider the past, or to literally turn and look behind you.

To return to a previous position or place of residence; to postpone something to a later time; or to move in a backward direction.

To return money owed, or to take revenge on someone who has wronged you.

To play a recorded sound or video in order to hear or watch it again.

To reinvest profits or money back into the same business or activity that generated them.

American English: to reinvest profits or earnings back into the same business.

To resist or oppose pressure, a proposal, or a policy; also to physically move something backward or to delay something.

To return something to its original place, or to reschedule something to a later time.

To reply sharply or quickly; a rare or non-standard phrasal verb.

Not a widely established standard phrasal verb; possibly a regional or rare variant meaning to pull or scrape back something painfully.

To move suddenly and sharply backward, often in surprise, fear, or disgust; used of people, animals, and vehicles.

To return to a previous state, habit, or system.

To return a phone call to someone who called earlier.

To make a strong and impressive comeback after being behind or in difficulty; to respond with great power after a setback.

To reverse or reduce something, especially prices, laws, or policies, to a previous level.

To reverse direction by rowing, or figuratively to withdraw or retreat from a previously stated position or commitment.

To set aside or keep a portion of something for future use.

To reduce the size, scope, or extent of something, often temporarily.

To reattach or replace something by screwing it back into its original position.

To delay progress or development, or to cost someone a specified amount of money.

To return something to its original place or owner, or to withdraw a statement.