come back
Definition
Verb: 1. To return to a place, person, or state: To go or travel back to a previous location or condition. 2. To reply, especially in a sharp or witty way: To answer or respond, often to a criticism or challenge. 3. To become popular or successful again: To return to a former state of popularity, fashion, or prominence. 4. To return to one's memory or mind: To be remembered or recalled.
Usage and Examples
- To return to a place or person:
- She promised to come back home before dark.
- I left my keys at the office and had to come back for them.
- To reply or retort:
- When he criticized her work, she came back with a brilliant counter-argument.
- "That's not true!" he came back quickly.
- To regain popularity or success:
- Bell-bottom jeans are trying to come back into style.
- After a series of losses, the team fought hard to come back and win the championship.
- To return to memory:
- His name will come back to me eventually, I just need a moment.
- The details of that day suddenly came back to her.
Advanced Usage
- "to come back from the dead": To recover from a seemingly hopeless situation; to regain success after a major failure.
- The company was nearly bankrupt but managed to come back from the dead with a new product line.
- "to come back to haunt someone": For a past action or mistake to cause problems later.
- His careless words came back to haunt him during the election.
Variants and Related Words
- Comeback (noun):
- A return to former success or popularity. The singer made a spectacular comeback after a decade away.
- A quick, clever reply. She had a sharp comeback for every insult.
- Return (verb/noun): A more general synonym for coming back to a place or state.
Synonyms
- Return: To go or come back to a place or condition.
- Retort: To reply sharply or wittily.
- Recover: To regain a normal state (e.g., health, success).
- Recur: To come back into one's mind.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Come back at: To reply forcefully to someone.
- He came back at his critics with new evidence.
- Come back to: To return to a topic of discussion.
- Let's come back to the main issue after the break.
Related Idioms
- Come back down to earth: To return to reality after a period of excitement or fantasy.
- After winning the lottery, it took him weeks to come back down to earth.
- What goes around comes around: The consequences of one's actions will eventually have an effect on the originator. (Conceptually related to things "coming back").
Verb
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answer back
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even the score, in sports
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go back to something earlier
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This harks back to a previous remark of his
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be restored
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Her old vigor returned
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