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back and forth

back and forth {adv.}

Backwards and forwards.

The chair is rocking back and forth.

The tiger is pacing back and forth in his cage.

Compare: TO AND FRO.

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Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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English Slang

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back

[back] See: [BACK OF] or [IN BACK OF], [BEHIND ONE'S BACK], [BRUSH BACK], [COME BACK], [CUT BACK], [DOUBLE BACK], [DRAW BACK], [DROP BACK]. [EYES IN THE BACK OF ONE'S HEAD], […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

drop back

[drop back] {v.} To move or step backwards; retreat. * /The soldiers dropped back before the enemy's attack./ * /The quarterback dropped back to pass the football./ Compare: [DRAW BACK], […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

back-to-back

[back-to-back] {adv.} 1. Immediately following. * /The health clinic had back-to-back appointments for the new students during the first week of school./ 2. Very close to, as if touching. * […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

back out

[back out] {v. phr.} 1. To move backwards out of a place or enclosure. * /Bob slowly backed his car out of the garage./ 2. To withdraw from an activity […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

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an expression "whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements… or from the general grammatical rules of a language"

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