retrace one's steps
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
To go back over something to find a mistake or understand what happened
Quay lại để tìm lỗi hoặc hiểu rõ điều gì đã xảy ra
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “retrace one's steps” mean?
To go back over something to find a mistake or understand what happened Literally: to follow one's previous path again
Is “retrace one's steps” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.