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worry back

C1 informal separable transitive
In simple words

To slowly and carefully move something back, or to keep thinking about a worry and bringing it back to your mind.

Literal meaning: From 'worry' in the older sense of gnawing or persistently pulling — to gnaw or push something 'back'.

Meanings

1 C1 informal

To carefully manoeuvre or nudge something back into its original position through patient, persistent effort.

"The surgeon slowly worried the bone fragment back into place."

Grammar: separable
2 C1 idiomatic informal

To find one's mind involuntarily returning to an anxious thought.

"No matter how hard she tried to sleep, her mind kept worrying back to the test results."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

A rare phrase with two possible uses. In the physical sense, it describes carefully manipulating something back into place (like a dog worrying a bone). In the psychological sense, it describes involuntarily returning to an anxious thought. Neither sense is common in modern usage. Learners are unlikely to encounter this phrase frequently.

Commonly used with

thought bone problem item position

Forms

Base
worry back
I/you/we/they
3rd person
worries back
he/she/it
Past simple
worried back
yesterday
Past participle
worried back
have + pp
-ing form
worrying back
continuous

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