hark back

verb

harked back; harking back; harks back

intransitive verb

1

: to turn back to an earlier topic or circumstance

2

: to go back to something as an origin or source

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Hark Back Got Its Start in Hunting

Hark, a very old word meaning "to listen," was used as a cry in hunting. The master of the hunt might cry "Hark! Forward!" or "Hark! Back!" The cries became set phrases, both as nouns and verbs. Thus, a "hark back" was a retracing of a route by dogs and hunters, and to "hark back" was to turn back along the path. From its use in hunting, the verb soon acquired its current figurative meanings. The variants hearken and harken (also very old words meaning “to listen”) are also used, with and without back, as synonyms of hark back.

Synonyms

• flash back (to)
• harken back (to)
• hearken back (to)
• mind [chiefly dialect]
• recall
• recollect
• remember
• reminisce (about)
• reproduce
• think (of)

Examples of hark back in a Sentence

the new stadium, designed for nostalgic appeal, harks back to the intimate ballparks of yore

Recent Examples on the Web

The mutual defense pact signed by Kim and Putin harks back to a 1961 treaty between North Korea and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. —Nectar Gan, CNN, 23 June 2024

That harked back to South Africa’s first all-race democratic election in 1994 after the end of apartheid. —Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post, 19 June 2024

At least one of these legal arguments Chiquita’s attorneys made harks back to United Fruit’s old playbook. —Jack Werner / Made By History, TIME, 18 June 2024

What is clear, however, is that in harking back to 1917, Putin and his critics and adversaries alike were reaching for the wrong historical analogy. —Vladislav Zubok, Foreign Affairs, 28 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

hark back

verb

: to recall or cause to recall something earlier

hark back to the good old days