back-and-forth

[ bak-uhn-fawrth, -fohrth, -uhnd- ]

adjective

1. backward and forward; side to side; to and fro:

   a back-and-forth shuttling of buses to the stadium; the back-and-forth movement of a clock's pendulum.

noun

1. unresolved argument or discussion.

Word History and Origins

Origin of back-and-forth¹

First recorded in 1605–15

Idioms and Phrases

Also, backward(s) and forward(s) . To and fro, moving in one direction and then the opposite and so making no progress in either. For example, The clock pendulum swung back and forth . The term is also used figuratively, as in The lawyers argued the point backwards and forwards for an entire week . [c. 1600]