'Back and forth' definitions:

Definition of 'back and forth'

(from WordNet)
adverb
Moving from one place to another and back again; "he traveled back and forth between Los Angeles and New York"; "the treetops whipped to and fro in a frightening manner"; "the old man just sat on the porch and rocked back and forth all day" [syn: back and forth, backward and forward, to and fro]

Definition of 'Back and forth'

From: GCIDE
  • Back \Back\, adv. [Shortened from aback.]
  • 1. In, to, or toward, the rear; as, to stand back; to step back. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To the place from which one came; to the place or person from which something is taken or derived; as, to go back for something left behind; to go back to one's native place; to put a book back after reading it. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To a former state, condition, or station; as, to go back to private life; to go back to barbarism. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Of time) In times past; ago. "Sixty or seventy years back." --Gladstone. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Away from contact; by reverse movement. [1913 Webster]
  • The angel of the Lord . . . came, and rolled back the stone from the door. --Matt. xxviii. 2. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. In concealment or reserve; in one's own possession; as, to keep back the truth; to keep back part of the money due to another. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. In a state of restraint or hindrance. [1913 Webster]
  • The Lord hath kept thee back from honor. --Numb. xxiv. 11. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. In return, repayment, or requital. [1913 Webster]
  • What have I to give you back? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. In withdrawal from a statement, promise, or undertaking; as, he took back the offensive words. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. In arrear; as, to be back in one's rent. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
  • Back and forth, backwards and forwards; to and fro.
  • To go back on, to turn back from; to abandon; to betray; as, to go back on a friend; to go back on one's professions. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Back and forth'

From: GCIDE
  • Forth \Forth\, v.[AS. for[eth], fr. for akin to D. voort, G. fort [root]78. See Fore, For, and cf. Afford, Further, adv.]
  • 1. Forward; onward in time, place, or order; in advance from a given point; on to end; as, from that day forth; one, two, three, and so forth. [1913 Webster]
  • Lucas was Paul's companion, at the leastway from the sixteenth of the Acts forth. --Tyndale. [1913 Webster]
  • From this time forth, I never will speak word. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • I repeated the Ave Maria; the inquisitor bad me say forth; I said I was taught no more. --Strype. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Out, as from a state of concealment, retirement, confinement, nondevelopment, or the like; out into notice or view; as, the plants in spring put forth leaves. [1913 Webster]
  • When winter past, and summer scarce begun, Invites them forth to labor in the sun. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Beyond a (certain) boundary; away; abroad; out. [1913 Webster]
  • I have no mind of feasting forth to-night. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Throughly; from beginning to end. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • And so forth, Back and forth, From forth. See under And, Back, and From.
  • Forth of, Forth from, out of. [Obs.] --Shak.
  • To bring forth. See under Bring. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'back and forth'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Back and forth'