WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
back-and-forth
(bak′ən fôrth′, -fōrth′, -ənd-),USA pronunciation adj.
n.
- backward and forward;
side to side;
to and fro:a back-and-forth shuttling of buses to the stadium; the back-and-forth movement of a clock's pendulum.
n.
- unresolved argument or discussion.
- 1605–15
'back-and-forth' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
alternate
- back
- back and to
- badminton
- bandy
- battledore
- boxball
- cricket
- crisscross
- diddle
- electron spin resonance
- ferry
- flap
- fluctuate
- flutter
- fro
- life car
- monkey
- ping-pong
- planer
- pump
- rally
- range
- reciprocate
- ring
- rocking chair
- rub
- run-down
- salugi
- scratch
- scuff
- seesaw
- shake
- shuttle
- shuttle diplomacy
- shuttlecock
- slide-action
- sliding seat
- stroke
- surge
- swing
- switch
- tennis
- throw
- time warp
- to and fro
- to-and-fro
- traverse
- tremolo
- up