to look back
75
1.4
- phrasal verb
- /lʊk bæk/
:
mirar hacia atrás
- As she heard footsteps behind her, she instinctively looked back to check if someone was following.
- a man looked back
He looked at this table, Then he looked back at me.
- He looked at this table, Then he looked back at me.
- I get to my building, I go through the doors, I look back and he's just laughing at me, just, like knocking me.
- And I just started like pulling these faces and turned around and looked back through my legs and people are chuckling.
- And he looked at me for a while and I look back at him and then he just goes no.
- And then I look under a couch and I see these two green glowing orbs looking back at me.
- So the man as he was walking away, went out past my lawn, past the porch, past the lawn, Stopped, looked back at me through the kitchen window.
- When the person looked back, they really felt stupid.
- And when you open the door and and pick up the telephone, you have to look back.
Examples
-
Walking to the edge of her porch, she looked back toward the field behind the house.
Fiction book (1991) -
Once you're inside and standing and talking to the owner, if you, if you turn around and look back, you're going to see the the boat head on.
-
When the person looked back, they really felt stupid.
-
I would have kept looking back to my mom to see, is it time to go home yet?
-
And then they would have run hard and fast and never looked back at those they left behind.
Fiction book (1991) -
Outside, as they got into Bill's car, he looked back at the house.
Fiction book (1990) -
After ten minutes, she paused and looked back at the row of trees.
Fiction book (1990) -
Louise and Thelma are both looking back at the two police cars following them.
Fiction book (1991) -
You turn around, you said Steve, don't look back, don't look back boy.
-
So the man as he was walking away, went out past my lawn, past the porch, past the lawn, Stopped, looked back at me through the kitchen window.
Synonyms
54
7.0
Act in a careful, nervous way because you fear being watched or followed
33
1.0
To move your body so you can see someone or something
3
2.0
Turn your head or eyes to see what is behind you
How Far
Surface Forms
Morphology
look + back
The sense 'to think about or remember the past' is a straightforward metaphorical extension of 'look' (direct one's attention) + 'back' (toward/at a previous time or behind); a learner who knows these constituent meanings can readily infer retrospection. This motion-to-mental-attention mapping is common across languages and phrasal-verb patterns, so a B1 learner knowing the parts will likely understand the MWE.
Etymology
Look back describes the simple action of turning your eyes or head to see what is behind you. It comes from look meaning 'to see' and back meaning 'behind', so it means 'to turn one's head or eyes to see what is behind oneself'.