Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use back in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, noun

Back means at or near the rear. Example: “Go in the back door of the house.”

Examples of back by meaning

adjectiveAt or near the rear.

  • Go in the back door of the house.
  • Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

adjectiveReturned or restored to a previous place or condition.

  • He was on vacation, but now he’s back.
  • The office fell into chaos when you left, but now order is back.

adjectiveNot current.

  • I’d like to find a back issue of that magazine.

adjectiveSituated away from the main or most frequented areas.

  • They took a back road.
  • He lives out in the back country.
  • It's OK that the highway is jammed, because I know a back way. It's another good way to get there.

adjectiveIn arrears; overdue.

  • They still owe three months’ back rent.
  • Several of the former Hotel York workers have filed with the California Labor Division to collect what they feel is owed them in the way of back overtime.1980 December 20, David Lamble, “Workers, Owners Battle It Out At SF Gay Hotel”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 22, page 9

adjectivePronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the back of the mouth, near the soft palate (most...

  • The vowel of lot has a back vowel in most dialects of England.

adverbTo or in a previous condition or place.

  • He gave back the money.
  • I left my mobile phone back at the hotel. I’ll have to go back and get it.
  • Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts.2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52

adverbIn a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.

  • Someone pushed me in the chest and I fell back.
  • The grandfather clock toppled back and crashed to the ground.
  • Her arm was bent back at an odd angle.

More sentences with back

  • I haven’t been back home across the pond in twenty years.From the entry pond
  • Bob’s in the can. He won’t be back for a few years.From the entry can
  • I checked in the back of the stockroom and found some more stock.From the entry stock
  • While reading her book, Sally leaned back against her husband, wishing it were the human kind.From the entry husband
  • When I got back to Hawaii, a feeling of aloha flooded me, and my anxiety vanished.From the entry aloha
  • With the business back in the founder's hands, there is new hope for the company.From the entry hand
  • The beach back is in pristine condition after a council-led cleanup.From the entry pristine
  • I have to take my books back to the library soon.From the entry my
  • The kitchen counter formed a right angle with the back wall.From the entry right
  • Jensen gets a 5 minute major penalty for hacking Orsov in the back.From the entry hack
  • We should ask for it back. After all, it is ours.From the entry ours
  • They gave each other a quick hello when they met, and went back on their merry ways.From the entry hello
  • The sacked quarterback was hurting bad. His back ached so bad that he had to lie down.From the entry bad
  • We're going back to the PI for a vacation this summer.From the entry pi
  • She said she dumped him. Now — bam! — they're back together.From the entry bam
  • Let's save the packaging in case we need to send the product back.From the entry save
  • His mind was drawn back to the events of the preceding morning.From the entry draw
  • Alan and Betty were necking in the back of a car when Betty's dad caught them.From the entry neck
  • When all is said and done, we'll look back at this and laugh.From the entry said and done
  • Her curly hair trailed along her shoulders and down her back.From the entry trail
  • She stood at the exit of the house looking back and waving at those inside.From the entry exit
  • As I lay on my back, a pain shot down from my neck to my waist.From the entry down
  • She was bent about "certain kinds of people" having civil rights; she wanted to roll those back.From the entry bent

Meaning of back

  1. adjective At or near the rear.
  2. adjective Returned or restored to a previous place or condition.
  3. adjective Not current.

Full definition of back

Questions about back in a sentence

How do you use back in a sentence?
Back is used as an adjective, adverb and noun. For example: “Go in the back door of the house.”
What is a short sentence with back?
“He gave back the money.”
What does back mean?
Back means at or near the rear.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: back (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use back in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/back. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.