slip back
B1 neutral inseparable intransitive
In simple words
Quietly return to a place or go back to a bad habit or state.
Literal meaning: To slip (move quietly/smoothly) back to a place — fairly transparent.
Meanings
1 B1 neutral
To return to a place quietly or without being noticed.
"He slipped back into the house after midnight and hoped nobody had heard him."
Grammar: inseparable
2 B2
idiomatic
neutral
To return to a previous (usually bad) state, habit, or condition, often unintentionally.
"After six months of sobriety, he slipped back into drinking when the stress became too much."
Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes
Common both in a physical sense (slipping back into a room) and in a figurative sense (slipping back into old habits, an addiction, or a worse economic condition). The figurative sense often carries a tone of regret or disappointment.
Commonly used with
old habits recession routine sleep past darkness
Forms
Base
slip back
I/you/we/they
3rd person
slips back
he/she/it
Past simple
sliped back
yesterday
Past participle
sliped back
have + pp
-ing form
sliping back
continuous
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