BACK (PHRASAL VERBS)

1- BACK UP: To make a copy of information on your computer. To move backwards a short
distance. To support.
- My laptop failed. Fortunately, all my information is backed up on iCloud.
- I need everyone to back up about 10 paces.
- All the evidence backs up her story.

2- BACK DOWN: To admit you were wrong, or to stop supporting a position. To descend.
- Both sides have refused to back down.
- My parents are in an argument and neither of them are backing down.
- She soon brought him back down to earth.
- We retreated back down the mountain.

3- BACK OFF: To stop being involved in a situation. To move backwards away from someone.
- She started to criticize me, then she suddenly backed off.
- Just back off and let us do this on our own, will you? -
I saw the knife and backed off.
- Back off! There's no need to yell at me.

4- BACK OUT: To refuse to do something you earlier had agreed to do.

- You agreed to come. You can't back out now!
- Everything's arranged. It's too late to back out now.
- You promised to help - you mustn't back out now.

5- COME BACK: To return to a place. (Where I am talking now).

- I’ll be on holiday next week. I’m coming back on Sunday night.
- I wait for you to come back.

6- GO BACK: To return to a place. (Where I am not talking now).

- That restaurant was terrible - I'm never going back there again.
- Do you think you'll ever go back to London?

7- GET BACK: To return to a place after you have been somewhere else.
- We didn't get back from the cinema until midnight.
- We got back from holiday to discover that we had been burgled.

8- GET BACK (TO SOMEBODY): Answer someone (a call, an email, etc.) at a later time.
- If I don’t get back to you later, call me tomorrow.
- He can’t find the phone number right now, but promised to get back to me with it.

9- GET BACK (AT SOMEBODY): To punish someone because that person has done something
wrong to you. To revenge.
- I think he’s trying to get back at her for what she said in the meeting.
- I'll get back at him one day for what he did to me.
9- THINK BACK: To remember something that happened in the past.
- When I think back, I realize I was wrong about a lot of things.
- That poem makes me think back to my childhood.

10- LOOK BACK: To think about something that happened in the past. To look behind with your
eyes.
- When I look back I can see where we went wrong.
- She looked back and saw that someone was following her.

11- PAY SOMEBODY BACK: To return borrowed money.

- I am sure that he will pay back every cent he owes you.
- If you lend me 20 euros, I can pay you back on Friday.

12- COMEBACK: A return to an earlier and better position or condition.

- The band was popular in the late '70s, and had a comeback in the early '90s.
- The miniskirt made a comeback in the late 1980’s.