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🔄 To go back 🧠 To think back
to retrace

to retrace

31 4.2
To go back along the same route you already took
  • verb
  • /rɪˈtreɪs/
translation icon : desandar
  • And to find your way back, retrace your steps.
  • retrace the route
  • retraced the steps
  • retrace the path

There's a lot of fishtailing back and forth and sometimes retracing your steps.

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Examples

  • But they had come to the end of the exhibit and reluctantly retraced their steps.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • OK, let's head back the other way and retrace our steps.

  • - We should try and retrace our steps.

    The Ritual (2017)

  • Did you retrace your steps?

    Captain Faggotron Saves the Universe (2023)

  • Now we can retrace your steps.

    The Cabin Movie (2005)

  • So we would just retrace our steps along this graph and we would keep going.

  • I'm trying to film landmarks so we can retrace our steps.

    Phoenix Forgotten (2017)

  • Given these limitations, we had to retrace West and Parsons's route via two separate roads.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Sweaty, scraped, and shaken, I retraced my steps through the alley to the front of the pub.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • We should probably just retrace our steps to find out how we got here.

Synonyms

to go back
vsto retrace
∞ 1.0

Return to a previous place, topic, or state

is specific to returning over the same route not just any return
to turn back
vsto retrace
159 2.1

To go back to a previous place or state

focuses on returning along same route rather than any change of direction
to backtrack
vsto retrace
42 4.3

To go back along the same route you have just taken

can mean returning along a route but not always immediate correction
to double back
vsto retrace
27 3.7

To turn around and go back the way you came

may describe turning and returning but key covers wider sequence repetition
to retrace one's steps
vsto retrace
15 4.3

To go back the same way you came to find something you lost

often used for returning without the intent to search or reconsider
to backtrace
vsto retrace
2 7.2

To follow program steps backward to find the first error

is about physically going back over a route, not analyzing cause origins
to work back
vsto retrace
1 5.1

To plan or check earlier steps by working backwards from a deadline

refers to moving back along a path or sequence rather than planning
to retrack
vsto retrace
1 7.9

To go back along the same route you took

is used to mean returning over the same route rather than any return

Antonyms

to proceed
763 3.0

Begin or continue an action after a pause, often as planned

to advance
417 3.4

To help something move forward or become better

Phrasal Verbs

to retrace one's steps
15 4.3

To go back the same way you came to find something you lost

How Thoroughly

to retrace
31 4.2
to backtrack
42 4.3
to go back
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

retrace infinitive
retraced past
retraced past participle
retracing present participle
retraces third person singular

Morphology

retrace = trace (transparent) = re + trace

This sense is a straightforward repetition meaning: 'retrace' means to trace or go over the same path again.

Etymology

Retrace comes from the parts re- 'again' and trace 'a mark or path', like a footprint or a line on the ground. So, to retrace a route is to go back and follow those marks or the same path again.