Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Back And Forth |
Back And ForthAdverb1. Moving from one place to another and back again; "he traveled back and forth between Los Angeles and New York". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Synonyms: Back And ForthSynonyms: backward and forward (adv), to and fro (adv). (additional references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Jackie gave me this egg to take care of, so me and Hyde are throwing it back and forth. (That '70s Show; writing credit: Stacia Raymond) | |
Lyrics | You was cold and your body swung back and forth ("The Message"; performing artist: Grandmaster Flash) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Back and Forth (2001) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | He walked back and forth constantly. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | The cat purred loudly, and the tip of its tail jerked back and forth. |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | These wash back and forth in shallow water on a sandy bottom, and are sometimes cast on the shore. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Limit the number of sex partners, and do not go back and forth between partners. (references) | |
Movements of the colon propel the contents slowly back and forth but mainly toward the rectum. (references) | ||
In this way, signals travel back and forth across the neurons or connections in the brain in a fraction of a second. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Georgia | The move did not affect significantly the return of IDP's to Gali, who continued to travel back and forth to the area to tend their property. (references) |
Economic History | Colombia | The ISS and the private funds would compete for affiliates who could move back and forth between the regimes every three years. (references) |
South Korea | The battle line seesawed back and forth until the late spring of 1951, when a successful offensive by UN forces was halted to enhance cease-fire negotiation prospects. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Uganda | Children walk back and forth across the unguarded borders, transporting small amounts of fuel, sugar, coffee, or other commodities. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Joan Lunden | We've been going in for all of the appointments and we've gotten to know her children and my husband e-mails back and forth with the husband every few days. |
Marlo Thomas | I don't think rough spots. Hard times, you know, of my being on the road with a play, and that kind of stuff, where we had to really struggle to find time, you know, to come back and forth to each other. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Woodrow Wilson | 1913-1921 | The currents of our thoughts as well as the currents of our trade run quick at all seasons back and forth between us and them. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Expressions using "back and forth": back and forth motion ♦ go back and forth ♦ move back and forth ♦ travel back and forth. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| Language | Translations for "back and forth"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | poshtë e lart. (various references) | |
Arabic | ذهابا وايابا, جيئة وذهوبة. (various references) | |
Chinese | 躊 (hesitate, manner of dancing, pace back and forth, walk around, waver), 跦 (pace back and forth, to walk), "弄 (fiddle with, move back and forth), 徊 (irresolute, move back and forth), 徜 (after, afterwards, back, behind, later, rear, sit cross-legged, walk back and forth), 往" (to go back and forth, to go to and fro), 往來 (contacts, dealings, to go back and forth), 徉 (walk back and forth), 佪 (irresolute, move back and forth). (various references) | |
Czech | sem a tam (hither and thither, to and fro). (various references) | |
Danish | frem-og tilbagemåling (back and forth measurement, reciprocal measurement, reciprocal observation), cirkulationen af de kemiske stoffer fra det abiotiske miljoe til de levende organismer og tilbage igen, betegnes : biogeokemisk kredsloeb (the more or less circular paths of chemical elements passing back and forth between organisms and abiotic environment are known as biogeochemical cycles). (various references) | |
Dutch | vice versa (vice versa), heen en weer (vice versa). (various references) | |
Esperanto | tien kaj reen. (various references) | |
Finnish | edestakaisin (there and back, to and fro). (various references) | |
French | aller et retour, allé et venue. (various references) | |
German | hin und her (argy-bargy, bidirectional, reciprocation, seesaw, there and back, to and fro, to and from, toggled, vice versa, wrangle). (various references) | |
Greek | πηγαινοέρχομαι (come and go 2). (various references) | |
Hebrew | " " ו" " (hither and thither, to and fro). (various references) | |
Hungarian | oda-vissza (double, there and back), előre-hátra (backwards and forwards, plunging). (various references) | |
Indonesian | bersilang-siur (crisscross, cross back and forth), berdondang (rock back and forth). (various references) | |
Italian | una gabbia duo reversibile consente l'effettuazione di passaggi successivi sottoponendo lo sbozzato a un movimento di va e vieni (a reversing two-high stand makes it possible to carry out successive back and forth passes of the piece), gli elementi chimici circolano dall'ambiente abiotico agli organismi viventi, e viceversa, secondo schemi che costituiscono i cicli biogeochimici (the more or less circular paths of chemical elements passing back and forth between organisms and abiotic environment are known as biogeochemical cycles). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 行ったり来たり (going to and fro). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | いったりきたり (going to and fro). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ackbay anday orthfay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | paraláeparacá. (various references) | |
Romanian | încoace şi încolo (from pillar to post, to and fro). (various references) | |
Russian | туда и сюда (hither and thither, to and fro). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | napred-nazad (come and go). (various references) | |
Spanish | para adelante y para atrás, de aquí para allí. (various references) | |
Swedish | fram-och-tillbaka (back-and-forth). (various references) | |
Turkish | ileri geri (backwards and forwards, to and fro). (various references) | |
Turkmen | gygyryюmak (shout back and forth). (various references) | |
Ukranian | назад і вперед. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | commeo. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-d-f-h-k-n-o-r-t" | |
-3 letters: handcraft, tackboard, thornback. | |
-4 letters: backhand, bankcard, handcart, hardback, hardtack. | |
-5 letters: abroach, acrobat, bandora, barchan, bodhran, chantor, fatback, handcar, hatband, hatrack, tanbark, tankard. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)42 61 63 6B 41 6E 64 46 6F 72 74 68 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000010 01100001 01100011 01101011 00100000 01000001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01000110 01101111 01110010 01110100 01101000 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)B a c k   A n d   F o r t h |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0042 0061 0063 006B 0041 006E 0064 0046 006F 0072 0074 0068 |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)36676977235807024081848674 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Fiction 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Quotations: Spoken | 9. Quotations: Speeches 10. Expressions 11. Translations: Modern 12. Translations: Ancient | 13. Anagrams 14. Orthography 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
