to think back
92
1.9
- phrasal verb
- /θɪŋk bæk/
:
recordar
- Even now, when I think back on it, I still feel...
- often think back
- ask to think back
- think back to one's own
So this is just, I mean, think back to steady state kinetics, right?
- So this is just, I mean, think back to steady state kinetics, right?
- Well, let's, let's think back about the story that he's in, right?
- So you're not thinking in a vacuum, you're thinking back on the action you took.
- And then when I think back, I'm like, what the hell was I on?
- Like I wonder in five years what I'm going to think back to this situation.
- So and I, I, I like to think back to why that might be.
- Now I've got back to Chelmsford, I'm thinking back in me old manner.
- One always thinks back to Michael Faraday.
- Let's think back to when President Biden entered office.
- I think I remember thinking back to that moment and I kind of wrote it down.
Examples
-
Take a moment and think back to where we all were four years ago.
-
Well, I think back to when I was in middle school.
-
You know, you think back now, my whole life was war.
-
Well, I want you to think back over the last many months.
-
I started thinking back to when we were young...
-
I'm trying to think back to those very early days.
-
Think back to the old times.
-
Three impressions stand out when I think back on my trip.
Academic text (2007) -
It feels almost surreal thinking back to where we were when we set this goal.
-
Take a moment and think back to where we all were four years ago.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To think about something from the past
∞
1.0
To remember something from before
∞
2.4
Remember something from the past
323
2.6
Think about the past, especially a time you remember
50
5.8
To think or talk about happy times from the past
44
4.1
To bring a memory or fact back into your mind
24
3.4
To help someone remember things they learned before
20
3.7
To remember something from the past
20
2.3
To think about past events to remember or judge them
16
5.3
To remember and talk about happy past events
12
4.4
To think back over the events or steps that led to something
11
3.2
To make a memory or image appear in your mind
8
5.3
To suddenly see or feel a past event as if it is happening now
7
8.5
Remind people of something from the past
6
7.2
To mention or remember something from an earlier time
4
2.3
Remember something from the past
2
6.3
Think about something that happened in the past to remember it
Antonyms
How Clear
25
2.8
∞
1.0
92
1.9
20
3.7
6
6.7
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning ‘to remember; recall something from the past’ is directly derivable from combining 'think' (to bring information into mind) with 'back' (return to an earlier point); the particle 'back' signals returning one's thoughts to an earlier time. This motion/return metaphor for time is common in many languages and follows a standard English verb + particle pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Think back comes from the simple image of turning your head and looking behind you, with back showing the direction. So when you think back you turn your mind to earlier times, which is why it means 'to remember'.