slip back

slip back

1. To move accidentally out of a particular position and back to a previous one. The latch covering the control panel keeps slipping back. We'll need to fasten it in place somehow.
2. To return to a previous or lower position of value, especially unexpectedly. The stock jumped up on Sunday, before slipping back into negative territory.
3. To return something to a previous or rightful location, especially surreptitiously or inconspicuously. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "slip" and "back." I took my mom's phone out of her wallet and slipped it back as soon as I had made the phone call. I didn't feel comfortable accepting the gift, so I slipped the money back in my dad's wallet when he wasn't looking.
4. To return to some location, especially surreptitiously or inconspicuously. I snuck out to go to my friend's party, hoping to slip back without my parents noticing. We'd better slip back to the office before we get in trouble with the boss.
See also: back, slip
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

slip something back

 
1. to pull or place something back. Alice slipped the gearshift lever back and away they went. She slipped back the gearshift and sped away.
2. to return something secretively. Someone took my wallet away and slipped it back later. The thief slipped back my wallet, but the money was gone.
See also: back, slip

slip back (to someone or something)

to move quietly and cautiously back to someone or something. Walter slipped back to Sally when her parents weren't looking. He slipped back and then Mary's parents slipped back, and there was quite a scene.
See also: back, slip
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • be/go back to square one
  • back to square one
  • come back and see us
  • back
  • back at (something or some place)
  • back over
  • back over (someone or something)
  • by the back door
  • by/through the back door
  • a while back
References in periodicals archive
A spirited revival brought them their first win and a gritty run of just one defeat in five back in October and lifted them out of the basement but a run of four defeats in five has seen them slip back into the mire.
Swans close in on table toppers
This haunted image asks viewers to slip back in time, and share this room with those who have long since faded into history.
Abstracting with light: when less becomes more: find the hidden details of your subject and let them speak to the viewer
Unfortunately he bogeyed the fourth and the seventh to slip back to five under.
Golf: Thai stakes claim
slip back to a time when most people lived hand-to-mouth and the country was controlled by a tiny, wealthy minority?
Drowning in a sea of debt: more students are taking out college loans, and for greater amounts than ever. Some are asking whether it's worth it
One swallow doesn't make a summer and we won't be content to slip back into some of the bad habits that have seen us lose games this year.
Standards must not slip; JON WILKIN Super Saint writes for the ECHO
John will slip back into work mode in April, narrating ITV1's new doco series Children's Hospital on life for the patients at The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.
In the pipeline.. TV LAND
This month's average in England and Wales currently stands at 20C and although it is expected to slip back to 19.9C (67.8F) by the end of the month, it will fractionally beat the previous record, set in July 1983.
Hottest month ever!
He indicated that inflation would rise above the 2% target in the short term, but was likely to slip back by the end of the year.
Healthy outlook
Invariably they do well against "bigger" teams, but then we slip back and have to start over again.
POST SOAPBOX: Up and down
They have gone seven games without victory in a costly winter wobble that has seen them slip back into mid-table.
Villagers looking for quiet time
Edfors was sharing the third-round lead but was forced back to the 18th tee and ended up with a double-bogey to slip back to joint seventh - two strokes behind leaders Darren Fichardt and Paul Broadhurst, who are on 13 under par.
Golf: JOHAN IN JEOPARDY
Mr Godden said, "There will be no Christmas cheer for manufacturers this year as fears mount that the sector will slip back into recession."
Concern as CBI survey shows fall in orders
A MUM who was in a coma for six years woke up only to slip back into it three days later.
Coma mum baffles docs
And as we said our last goodbyes She slipped back into the crowds Then I saw through misty eyes The sun slip back into the clouds I met my old friend in town today And though my feelings churned Yet I knew as I walked away A page from my past had turned.
You say: Your Poem - Blessed Friends
Calling on parents to accept their responsibilities, she claims police have let the situation slip back by allowing the dispersal order scheme to lapse, and by not responding to crime reports.
Police pledge on extra patrols