Word.ws English Dictionary

taking back

taking back is the present participle and gerund of take back.

Meaning of take back

Verb

take back (third-person singular simple present takes back, present participle taking back, simple past took back, past participle taken back)

  1. (transitive) To retract or withdraw (an earlier statement).
    • No, you are not fat; I take it all back.
  2. (transitive) To cause (someone) to remember some past event or time.
    • That tune takes me back to my childhood.
  3. (transitive) To resume a relationship with (someone).
    • She has forgiven him, and taken him back.
  4. (transitive) Physically so.
    • The wedding is off, and he has taken back the ring.
    Synonyms:
    reclaim
  5. (transitive) Culturally so.
    • The Queer community took back the word from their disparagers.
  6. (transitive) To return (something) to a vendor for a refund.
    • Take back faulty goods to the shop where you bought them.

Questions about taking back

What is taking back the present participle and gerund of?
Taking back is the present participle and gerund of take back.

Words near taking back in the dictionary

  1. taking at advantage
  2. taking at face value
  3. taking attendance
  4. taking away
  5. taking away from
  6. taking back
  7. taking bread and salt
  8. taking breath
  9. taking by storm
  10. taking by surprise
  11. taking care

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking back (page history and authors); take back (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “taking back.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taking_back. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.