Word.ws English Dictionary

turned back the clock

turned back the clock is the simple past and past participle of turn back the clock.

Meaning of turn back the clock

Verb

turn back the clock (third-person singular simple present turns back the clock, present participle turning back the clock, simple past and past participle turned back the clock)

  1. (figuratively, idiomatic) To return to a previous state.
    • We had a terrible year so we agreed to turn back the clock and go on as if it hadn't happened.

Questions about turned back the clock

What is turned back the clock the simple past and past participle of?
Turned back the clock is the simple past and past participle of turn back the clock.

Words near turned back the clock in the dictionary

  1. turned around
  2. turned around one's finger
  3. turned aside
  4. turned away
  5. turned back
  6. turned back the clock
  7. turned coat
  8. turned down
  9. turned forth
  10. turned heads
  11. turned in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: turned back the clock (page history and authors); turn back the clock (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: “turned back the clock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/turned_back_the_clock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.