How to Use back-and-forth in a Sentence

back-and-forth

1 of 2 noun
  • Books The back-and-forth over ‘The Blind Side’ misses the big picture.
    — Julia M. Klein, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023
  • The game was a true back-and-forth affair with 15 lead changes and nine ties.
    — Lila Bromberg, Hartford Courant, 25 Feb. 2023
  • For most of the night, the two teams traded blows in a back-and-forth contest.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2024
  • So after all this back-and-forth, the Supreme Court weighed in on April 21.
    — Josh Fischman, Scientific American, 10 May 2023
  • Quartz has compiled a list of their spicy back-and-forth.
    — Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 12 Feb. 2025
  • This was a back-and-forth affair for much of the second half.
    — Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 28 Feb. 2025
  • This should be done in a short, quick back-and-forth motion.
    — Brad Lanphear, Men's Health, 10 June 2023
  • Expect to see more back-and-forth moves between the US and Nvidia in the months ahead.
    — Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 13 Nov. 2023
  • The Mavs lost a stunning back-and-forth home game with the Kings on Monday.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 12 Feb. 2025
  • And many of you are gracious enough to engage with me in a back-and-forth.
    — Vulture, 2 Nov. 2023
  • And those tense early minutes set the tone for a back-and-forth game.
    — Kansas City Star, 9 Feb. 2024
  • That had a lot to do with me and my back-and-forth with sobriety.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Watch the co-hosts’ back-and-forth in the video above, then drop your comments below.
    — Gabriela Silva, TVLine, 9 Dec. 2024
  • The Clippers and Suns keep going back-and-forth in the fourth quarter.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 16 Apr. 2023
  • The amused barista eventually tires of our back-and-forth and comps the drinks.
    — Jae-Ha Kim, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2025
  • After a back-and-forth first half hour, the Timbers broke through.
    — oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2023
  • And this is the latest in the back-and-forth between the Colts owner and the Commanders over the course of the last year.
    — The Indianapolis Star, 8 May 2023
  • That’s the back-and-forth of this evolving and quite sobering matter.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2024
  • The back-and-forth continues until about the 58-minute mark.
    — Emily Yahr, Washington Post, 23 Nov. 2023
  • Luckily, the back-and-forth banter was all in fun and for a good cause.
    — Adrianna Freedman, Good Housekeeping, 25 May 2023
  • Since then, the back-and-forth between the parents has played out on Twitter.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 12 Feb. 2025
  • After a back-and-forth first quarter, Duke used a four-goal run to build a 7-4 lead.
    — USA TODAY, 27 May 2023
  • Trump telephoned his adversary, and the two had a fiery back-and-forth.
    — David Freedlander, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
  • These processes can take a long time, said Messinger, with lots of back-and-forth.
    — Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 3 Mar. 2023
  • Neither side led by more than two goals in a back-and-forth battle.
    — Kat Cornetta, BostonGlobe.com, 11 June 2023
  • The back-and-forth comes at a critical moment for Mejia.
    — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024
  • Here is a back-and-forth on social media: There are many things to say about all this.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 27 Dec. 2024
  • Then, the back-and-forth between her and Mitchell continued on.
    — Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2024
  • Disability claims already take years to resolve, and often require a tedious back-and-forth of appeals to win.
    — Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2025
  • But through all that presidential back-and-forth, the endangerment finding remained intact.
    — David Blackmon, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025

back and forth

2 of 2 adverb
  • The chair rocked back and forth.
  • The children were shuttled back and forth between school and home.
  • Things were yo-yoing back and forth right up to the 11th hour.
    — Jp Brammer, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024
  • Set the clock to 42 seconds, and run the length of the court, back and forth six times.
    — Sam Blum, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
  • Praise music floats in the air and the crowd rocks back and forth.
    — Sam Kestenbaum, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2022
  • The city and the feds went back and forth on it for nearly a year.
    — Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2022
  • The two had been going back and forth in the race all year.
    — Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 30 July 2024
  • Pull it tight and move it back and forth within the guide.
    — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Plants sway in the current and fish dart back and forth.
    — Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 20 June 2024
  • There was a lot of back and forth about what line would be drawn.
    — Claire B. Wofford, The Conversation, 25 Apr. 2024
  • Shahrzad goes back and forth as to whether the protests will succeed.
    — Omid Khazani and Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2022
  • The camera pans back and forth searching for the whales.
    — Mark R. Weaver, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024
  • Rock your rolling pin back and forth over the parchment to flatten the dough.
    — Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appétit, 8 Dec. 2023
  • The two teams went back and forth trading blows from there.
    — Lila Bromberg, Hartford Courant, 3 July 2022
  • As the actors volleyed back and forth, so did the tension.
    — Steven Vargasstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2023
  • From this point, the show moves back and forth in time leading up to Paris.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 July 2024
  • Despite the back and forth, Belushi filed for divorce in 2021.
    — Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 20 Oct. 2023
  • The woman said thanks and took the stroller, moving it back and forth for a test drive.
    — Beth Thames | Bethmthames@gmail.com, al, 14 Mar. 2022
  • Roll the roller from the jaw to the cheekbone and repeat, avoiding moving the roller back and forth.
    — Lauren Manaker, Health, 27 Mar. 2023
  • And this back and forth doesn't serve people like them at all.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2024
  • After texting back and forth and one long phone call, the pair were off to the races.
    — Lanae Brody, PEOPLE.com, 12 Apr. 2022
  • Protect your hands with work gloves or use grilling tongs to scrape the foil back and forth across the grates.
    — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 3 July 2023
  • What is the back and forth before the explosion (if any)?
    — Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, 5 July 2023
  • It’s been a really good camp in regards to the back and forth.
    — Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 14 Aug. 2023
  • But after a bit of back and forth, Barkley stuck with his first love.
    — Bychloe Berger, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2022
  • But the Illini kept clawing back, and the game was back and forth in the final minute.
    — Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, 19 Mar. 2022
  • The game moved back and forth: The U.S. scored in the first 10 minutes of the match, and the English scored about 10 minutes later.
    — Clint Smith, The Atlantic, 25 July 2023
  • One of the girls was going back and forth in the comments with people.
    — Essence, 25 July 2022
  • The first was to complain about an ATV zooming back and forth in front of the leasing office.
    — Cristóbal Reyes, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Then the eagle resettled itself, rocking gently back and forth atop the eggs.
    — Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'back-and-forth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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