turn back

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turn back

The hikers had to turn back when the trail became too steep.

Definition

Verb: 1. To reverse direction and go back the way one came: To physically return along the same path or route. 2. To cause someone or something to go back: To send someone or something back to a previous place or state. 3. To fold or bend something backward or downward: To change the position of something by folding it. 4. To refuse entry or admission: To deny passage or entry to someone, forcing them to leave or go back.

Examples of Usage
  • Verb (Return):
    • We realized we had taken the wrong path and had to turn back.
    • The weather became too dangerous, so the climbers decided to turn back.
  • Verb (Send Back):
    • The guards turned back the protesters at the gate.
    • Immigration officials turned the traveler back due to invalid documents.
  • Verb (Fold):
    • Please turn back the page to chapter one.
    • He turned back the corner of the page to mark his place.
  • Verb (Refuse Entry):
    • The nightclub turned back anyone not wearing formal attire.
Advanced Usage
  • "to turn back the clock": To return to a situation or a set of conditions from the past; to wish things were as they were in an earlier time.
    • We can't turn back the clock and undo what happened.
  • "to turn back the tide": To stop and reverse the progress of something powerful or widespread (often used metaphorically).
    • The new policy aimed to turn back the tide of economic decline.
Variants and Related Words
  • Turnback (noun): A place where a road, path, or route turns back on itself; a reversal. (Less common)
    • There's a sharp turnback in the trail ahead.
  • Turned-back (adjective): Describes something that is folded or directed backward.
    • She wore a hat with a turned-back brim.
Synonyms
  • Return: To go or come back to a place or person.
  • Retreat: To move back or withdraw, especially from something challenging or dangerous.
  • Reverse: To change to the opposite direction, order, or position.
  • Repel: To drive or force back; to resist effectively.
  • Refuse: To indicate or show that one is not willing to do something, such as grant entry.
Related Phrasal Verbs
  • Turn away: Very similar to "turn back" in the sense of refusing admission.
    • The theater had to turn away hundreds of fans.
  • Turn around: Can mean to face the opposite direction or, more commonly, to change a bad situation into a good one.
    • The company managed to turn around its financial losses.
Related Idioms
  • There's no turning back: Used to say that a decision has been made and the situation cannot be changed to how it was before; the point of no return has been passed.
    • Once you submit the application, there's no turning back.
turn back

The hikers had to turn back when the trail became too steep.

Verb
  1. turn inside out or upside down
  2. hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of
    • Arrest the downward trend
    • Check the growth of communism in South East Asia
    • Contain the rebel movement
    • Turn back the tide of communism
  3. force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings
    • Drive away potential burglars
    • drive away bad thoughts
    • dispel doubts
    • The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers
  4. go back to a previous state
    • We reverted to the old rules
  5. retrace one's course
    • The hikers got into a storm and had to turn back

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