back to square one
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Never shut the filter down, or the beneficial bacteria will die and you will be back to square one.
But if you blow the whole lot on celebrating you will be back to square one.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review.
Common questions
What does “back to square one” mean?
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Is “back to square one” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.