LOOK BACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does look back mean? 

• LOOK BACK (verb)
  The verb LOOK BACK has 2 senses:

1. look towards one's back

2. look back upon (a period of time, sequence of events); remember

  Familiarity information: LOOK BACK used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOOK BACK (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Look towards one's back

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

look back; look backward

Context example:

don't look back while you walk

Hypernyms (to "look back" is one way to...):

look (perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

They look back up the hill

Sense 2

Meaning:

Look back upon (a period of time, sequence of events); remember

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

look back; retrospect; review

Context example:

she reviewed her achievements with pride

Hypernyms (to "look back" is one way to...):

remember; think back (recapture the past; indulge in memories)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

I look back on my life, child, said my aunt, and I think of some who are in their graves, with whom I might have been on kinder terms.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It is no less unreal now that I look back upon it.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He was laughing with his red mouth; the sharp white teeth glinted in the moonlight when he turned to look back over the belt of trees, to where the dogs were barking.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Miss Dashwood, you cannot have an idea of the comfort it gives me to look back on my own misery.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

So I think at this hour, when I look back to the crisis through the quiet medium of time: I was unconscious of folly at the instant.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She continued to look back, but in vain; and soon, with what appeared unusual speed, they were half way down the hill, and every thing left far behind.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Let’s take a look back for a second so that I can show you what you’ve been dealing with in your career.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

As I passed the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my skirt, and a low voice whispered, “Walk past me, and then look back at me.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Two weeks ago I was passing this place, when I chanced to look back over my shoulder, and about two hundred yards behind me I saw a man, also on a bicycle.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I shall always look back on our theatricals with exquisite pleasure.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)