double back

British  

verb

1. (intr, adverb) to go back in the opposite direction (esp in the phrase double back on one's tracks )

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double back Idioms  

1. Reverse one's course, go back the way one has come. For example, The officer lost the suspect, who had doubled back on him. This term, at first put simply as to double, is used largely to describe a way of evading pursuit. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

But now we see her double back to confront Joel about his lies and demand that he answer her questions about Salt Lake City honestly.

From Salon • May 19, 2025

Top of the Premier League after nine matches following their best start to a season since winning the double back in 1960-61 - and under a manager Spurs supporters have fallen in love with.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2023

It’s a dead-end road, so you’ll have to double back the way you came.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 8, 2023

Prequels, on the other hand, often double back to continue stories that definitively ended, as many contemporary dramas do.

From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2022

If I could get over the rise, I could double back without Jerome seeing me.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides