look back

look back

To reminisce about something that happened in the past. I had a great childhood and look back on those days very fondly.
See also: back, look
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

look back

 (at someone or something) and look back (on someone or something)
1. Lit. to gaze back and try to get a view of someone or something. She looked back at the city and whispered a good-bye to everything she had ever cared for. I went away and never looked back.
2. Fig. to think about someone or something in the past. When I look back on Frank, I do remember his strange manner, come to think of it. When I look back, lam amazed at all I have accomplished.
See also: back, look
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

look back

1. Remember or think about the past, as in When Mom looked back on the early days of their marriage, she wondered how they'd managed with so little money . [Late 1500s]
2. not look back; never look back. Never show signs of interrupted progress, never return to past circumstances. For example, Once he'd won the Pulitzer Prize, he never looked back. [Late 1800s]
See also: back, look
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

look back

v.
1. To direct one's gaze backward: The travelers looked back to the city as they boarded the ship.
2. To think about the past; retrospect: At the high school reunion, everyone looked back at the good times they had shared.
See also: back, look
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • carry (one) back
  • carry back
  • be/go back to square one
  • come back and see us
  • a while back
  • back to square one
  • back
  • back at (something or some place)
  • comeback
  • come back
References in periodicals archive
The solid plot of "Never Look Back" also works well as a character study as Gaylin intelligently delves into each person's psyche.
Book review: Alison Gaylin probes how violence affects families in 'Never Look Back'
It is believed that Osborne drew inspiration from his personal life and failing marriage with Pamela Lane while writing Look Back in Anger.
Look back in anger
And so Sally can wait, she knows it's too late as we're walking on by Her soul slides away, but don't look back in anger I heard you say
Why Oasis' Don't Look Back in Anger has become Manchester's anthem - the lyrics show we stand together; Following the Manchester terrorist attack in 2017 the Oasis song became the city's anthem, showing we stand together
"Let this be a challenge to all of uslook up, look back and bow down to God.
Look up to God in humility, Tagle tells Nazarene devotees
if we're lucky--if twice lucky, we never look back again), their
The Shore
Recently, when I read the words: "Never look back, try harder in the future", I had that reaction.
THOUGHT for the DAY
More interestingly, most of the ones who did look back to a previous page also reported doing so--a finding consistent with the view that look-backs index strategic behaviour.
Do adult readers know how they read? Evidence from eye movement patterns and verbal reports
"But now we are finally safe from relegation, I can look back on it all as a year when I learned a lot about myself.
Football: DANNY: I'VE GROWN UP
This is a good time to look back at the last year and celebrate the many successes we have experienced.
Executive directions
For this volume, the 1500 books are divided into five sections: Drama, Mythology, Poetry, and Sacred Writing; Fiction; Biography and History; Nonfiction; and Seniors Look Back. Within each section, entries are listed alphabetically by title.
Fenner, Pamela J., Greer, Anne J., Wulsin, John H., Jr., eds. Books for the journey; a guide to the world of reading
As I prepare to pass the torch of leader-ship to Charles Schulman, who will become AMAA president after our 2004 Sports Medicine Symposium this April, I look back on my years as a member, and then as president of AMAA with fond memories.
President's message
In 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, people will look back, Iraqis will look back, and they'll look back on this period and they'll look back on each of you and know in their hearts that what you've done is to help build a new Iraq, an Iraq that's free, an Iraq that's whole, an Iraq that's at peace, an Iraq that is a friend to its neighbors, and that you, each of you, and you'll be able to tell your children that you were a part of that.
Baghdad Police Academy
It's hard to imagine that someday, someone will look back at this time as the good old days.
The good old days
LESS THAN A WEEK BEFORE "PUTTING TO BED" THE SECOND half of Artforum's two-volume look back on the '80s, organized by my predecessor, Jack Bankowsky, I found myself seated across from sculptor Haim Steinbach at a Brooklyn kitchen table, a late winter light waning on the running tape recorder and half-finished plate of marzipan between us.
Editor's letter
This is a good moment to look back and to reflect on what has been reached and what has been missed.
Social Mobility and Modernization: A Journal of Interdisciplinary History Reader. (Reviews)