back-trackv.
Originally and chiefly U.S.
1. intransitive. To return; to retrace one's steps. Also figurative, to go back on, withdraw.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)] > turn back or retrace one's steps
charec1000
i-cherrec1000
again-wendOE
again-turna1375
to turn backc1425
reflect1608
redambulate1623
to tread back one's steps1777
back track1802
to try back1816
back-track1904
back-trail1907
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > reverse or abandon one's purpose [verb (intransitive)]
wendOE
divert1430
to turn one's tale1525
relent1528
revolt1540
resile?a1597
crinkle1612
to throw in (or up) one's cards1688
to box the compass1714
to turn round1808
crawfish1848
to back down1849
duff1883
back-pedal1891
punk1920
back-track1947
to back off1961
1904 E. Robins Magn. North ii. 164 Now I'd advise you..to back-track home.
1947 Time 6 Oct. 25/2 During the week he had to back-track on three statements.
1953 Here & Now (N.Z.) III. x. 28/2 A Western marshal who has to stand alone..after the townspeople he has served back~track out of their responsibilities.
1955 ‘J. Wyndham’ Chrysalids viii. 92 Uncle Axel backtracked a bit. ‘There's no reason at all why anyone should find out.’
1959 Listener 12 Feb. 292/3 They had to compromise, back-track, evade, as well as leap forward.
1966 Amer. Speech 41 167 Before taking up this matter, let us back-track to the state of the knowledge of German in New England.
1967 Spectator 29 Dec. 804/1 I hope..that President Johnson heeds the voice of the turtle in the land and begins backtracking in Vietnam.
2. transitive. To pursue or trace; to investigate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow [verb (transitive)] > follow (a track or trail) > follow track or trail of
troda1250
tracec1440
track1565
train1575
tract1577
hunt1579
foot1581
trail1590
to tread the feet of1596
insist1631
pad1861
sleuth1905
back-trail1907
back-track1925
1925 E. T. Seton Lives Game Animals I. 521 I started out across the fields and ‘backtracked’ the man.
1928 National Geographic Mag. July 104 Lewis back-tracked the original route up the Missouri.
1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses & Other Stories v. 151 Too dark by that time to back-track her.
1954 M. F. Rodell Myst. Fiction xv. 108 Backtracking the dress, he discovered that it had been bought before and returned.
Derivatives
back-tracker n. one who returns.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > return > [noun] > one who
returner1534
revisitant1831
revenant1867
comebacker1879
comeback1908
back-tracker1946
boomeranger1984
1946 National Geographic Mag. Jan. 1/2 A small group of placer miners, many of them backtrackers from the California boom, had been gaining slender winnings in the gravel beds.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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