to take back
115
3.9
- phrasal verb
- /teɪk bæk/
:
volver con
- I'll take him back to his family.
And I, they, they, they took me back with some caveats.
- And I, they, they, they took me back with some caveats.
- All of that to say, with relationships, do you take some back someone that's hurt you?
- Yes, you got jealous and so you took him back.
- Mads, did your ex beg you beg you to take him back?
- And when she flee from her husband's home, her parents didn't want to take her back.
- If some people, their narcissistic person got their sort of comeuppance too quickly because you may not have had a chance to heal yet, you might have taken them back too.
Examples
-
He was surprised when she agreed to take him back after their long separation.
-
Why did she keep taking him back when she knew he was a dog?
Fiction book (2000) -
Are you gonna take him back home or not?
-
Well, yes, if you could just take me back.
-
I'll take you back, but let me do this one first, okay?
-
How many times are you gonna show up here, begging me to take you back?
Fiction book (2001) -
We put him into the handcart and took him back to the kitchen.
Fiction book (2002) -
No matter what I said to him, he wouldn't take me back now.
Fiction book (1999) -
Eve's husband returns and takes her back to Florida with him.
Academic text (2014) -
After their breakup, she decided to take back her ex-boyfriend, hoping they could start fresh.
Synonyms
∞
1.6
Have again something you had before it was lost or taken
138
3.2
To bring people or things back together after being apart
86
3.7
Join things or people again after they were apart
33
3.4
Get back someone or something you lost
Form a couple with someone again after a breakup
Antonyms
- Informal
678
2.6
End a relationship with someone, for example a romantic or business partner
How Reconciled
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to regain possession' is directly derivable from combining 'take' (to get/receive) with 'back' (to a previous place/state): taking something back implies moving it back to its prior owner or state. This motion/state-restoration pattern with 'back' is common in English and other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would typically infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Take back comes from welcoming someone back into your home or life: you take them back through the door and accept them again, so it means 'to resume a relationship'.