as in to repel
to drive back
a cavalry charge that was turned back by withering fire
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Examples of turn back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The 60-year-old long-distance swimmer who tried this week to cross Lake Michigan to Milwaukee appeared to have turned back, the online tracking of his route showed.
—
Leah Olajide, Detroit Free Press, 10 Aug. 2024
Nixon sought to turn back big government programs born out of the New Deal and Great Society.
—Chris Doyle, Hartford Courant, 22 July 2024
Damien Scott hypothesizes that Smith turned back to the hip-hop community for acceptance after his recent Hollywood projects stalled or were put on hold following the 2022 Oscars slap heard ’round the world.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 1 Aug. 2024
The Biden-Harris administration continues to use a Trump-era rule to turn back most migrant adults.
—Chad De Guzman, TIME, 22 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for turn back 
Leah Olajide, Detroit Free Press, 10 Aug. 2024
Nixon sought to turn back big government programs born out of the New Deal and Great Society.
—Chris Doyle, Hartford Courant, 22 July 2024
Damien Scott hypothesizes that Smith turned back to the hip-hop community for acceptance after his recent Hollywood projects stalled or were put on hold following the 2022 Oscars slap heard ’round the world.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 1 Aug. 2024
The Biden-Harris administration continues to use a Trump-era rule to turn back most migrant adults.
—Chad De Guzman, TIME, 22 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for turn back
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'turn back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near turn back
Cite this Entry
“Turn back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turn%20back. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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