back and forth
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
moving repeatedly from one place to another
Literally: physical motion between two points
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “Irreversible binomial” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Near equivalent
tròng trành
(verb) to sway; to rock; to tilt back and forth
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
chao đảo
(verb) to rock (back and forth); to stagger
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
đi lại
(verb) to go back and forth; to go from here to there (generally speaking)
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
ngược xuôi
(verb) to go back and forth, bustle about
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
lẫn nhau
(adjective) mutual; reciprocal; back and forth
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
tới lui
(verb) to haunt; to frequent; to go back and forth
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
ngoe nguẩy
(verb) to bend back and forth gently
Tiếng Việt
Common questions
What does “back and forth” mean?
moving repeatedly from one place to another Literally: physical motion between two points
Is “back and forth” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“tròng trành” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.