Dictionary

bring back en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈbɹɪŋ bæk/ (General-American)

Meanings

1. (ditransitive, transitive) To fetch something.
   • 'Smuggling was a way of life here, with no stigma attached,' David explained. His own granny used to smuggle out rabbit meat, tied to her body, and bring back such coveted Italian goods as chocolate, coffee and brooms. 'Brooms?' I asked him in disbelief. 'Yes, ordinary sorghum brooms, which were in short supply in Communist Yugoslavia, like many other basic household goods,' he said with a smile. 2026 June 24, Vitali Vitaliev, “Life on the borderline”, in RAIL, number 1064, page 68:
   • I brought back the groceries.
   • If you're going to the store, could you bring me back some chocolate?
2. (transitive) To cause someone to remember something from the past.
   • The smell of the magnolia brought back sweet memories of my childhood.
3. (transitive) To reenact an old rule or law.
   • In the UK it is customary to hold a vote every few years on whether to bring back the death penalty.
4. (transitive) To revive, to resurrect; to cause something dead to be alive once again.
   • Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, ⁠Nor other thought her mind admits ⁠But, he was dead, and there he sits, And he that brought him back is there. 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 51:
   • The old man turned and regarded her, and his voice shook. "He has been dead ten days, and besides he — I would not tell you else, but — I could only recognize him by his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now?" / "Bring him back," cried the old woman, and dragged him toward the door. "Do you think I fear the child I have nursed?" 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw:

Forms

Deriveds

bring back to life · bringback

Translations (15)

tl ibalik (to fetch something) · fr ramener (to fetch something) · fi palauttaa (to reenact an old rule or law) · fr rapporter (to fetch something) · eo reporti (to fetch something) · eo rekonduki (to fetch something) · fr ramener (to cause to remember something from the past) · fi palauttaa mieleen (to cause to remember something from the past) · fr ramener (to revive something dead) · la referō (to fetch something) · sw fufua (to revive something dead) · fi tuoda (to fetch something) · fi hakea (to fetch something) · fi herättää kuolleista (to revive something dead) · fr faire revenir (to reenact an old rule or law)