How to Use back-and-forth in a Sentence

back-and-forth

1 of 2 noun

• Books The back-and-forth over ‘The Blind Side’ misses the big picture.
  — Julia M. Klein, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023
• The game was a true back-and-forth affair with 15 lead changes and nine ties.
  — Lila Bromberg, Hartford Courant, 25 Feb. 2023
• For most of the night, the two teams traded blows in a back-and-forth contest.
  — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2024
• So after all this back-and-forth, the Supreme Court weighed in on April 21.
  — Josh Fischman, Scientific American, 10 May 2023
• This should be done in a short, quick back-and-forth motion.
  — Brad Lanphear, Men's Health, 10 June 2023
• Expect to see more back-and-forth moves between the US and Nvidia in the months ahead.
  — Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 13 Nov. 2023
• And many of you are gracious enough to engage with me in a back-and-forth.
  — Vulture, 2 Nov. 2023
• And those tense early minutes set the tone for a back-and-forth game.
  — Kansas City Star, 9 Feb. 2024
• That had a lot to do with me and my back-and-forth with sobriety.
  — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 8 Mar. 2023
• Watch the co-hosts’ back-and-forth in the video above, then drop your comments below.
  — Gabriela Silva, TVLine, 9 Dec. 2024
• The Clippers and Suns keep going back-and-forth in the fourth quarter.
  — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 16 Apr. 2023
• After a back-and-forth first half hour, the Timbers broke through.
  — oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2023
• And this is the latest in the back-and-forth between the Colts owner and the Commanders over the course of the last year.
  — The Indianapolis Star, 8 May 2023
• That’s the back-and-forth of this evolving and quite sobering matter.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2024
• The back-and-forth continues until about the 58-minute mark.
  — Emily Yahr, Washington Post, 23 Nov. 2023
• Luckily, the back-and-forth banter was all in fun and for a good cause.
  — Adrianna Freedman, Good Housekeeping, 25 May 2023
• After a back-and-forth first quarter, Duke used a four-goal run to build a 7-4 lead.
  — USA TODAY, 27 May 2023
• Trump telephoned his adversary, and the two had a fiery back-and-forth.
  — David Freedlander, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
• These processes can take a long time, said Messinger, with lots of back-and-forth.
  — Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 3 Mar. 2023
• Neither side led by more than two goals in a back-and-forth battle.
  — Kat Cornetta, BostonGlobe.com, 11 June 2023
• The back-and-forth comes at a critical moment for Mejia.
  — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024
• Then, the back-and-forth between her and Mitchell continued on.
  — Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2024
• Forbes chronicled their back-and-forth for the top spot more than a dozen times just last month alone.
  — Michael Sheldrick, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
• The move has led to a tense back-and-forth with the show’s venue, which taunted the Virginia native online.
  — Jonah Valdez, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2023
• The team says the director’s hands-on role in the VFX helped with planning, reduced the back-and-forth and streamlined the work.
  — Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Feb. 2024
• Just like in Game 1, both teams engaged in back-and-forth play, but neither scored.
  — Kat Cornetta, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Mar. 2023
• He also has been locked in a bizarre legal back-and-forth with Disney for the past year.
  — Tori Otten, The New Republic, 28 Sep. 2023
• As the final whistle blew, the passion of the back-and-forth contest led to a postgame scuffle.
  — Benjamin Royer, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2024
• So what is a person who wants a flirty Christmas back-and-forth to do?
  — Marc Hirsh, Vulture, 21 Dec. 2024
• This fixation is a pity, since opera, like any art form, thrives on debate, disagreement, the back-and-forth of the public sphere.
  — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024

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back and forth

2 of 2 adverb

• The chair rocked back and forth.
• The children were shuttled back and forth between school and home.
• The two teams went back and forth trading blows from there.
  — Lila Bromberg, Hartford Courant, 3 July 2022
• Why go back and forth trying to schedule a meeting when our calendars can do it for us?
  — Krishna Motukuri, Forbes, 22 June 2022
• The boxers frequently went back and forth over a tense sparring session 18 months ago that spilled over.
  — Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 12 July 2022
• Repeat, shifting your tailbone back and forth with a hold at each end range, for 30 to 60 seconds.
  — Alyssa Ages, Outside Online, 13 Dec. 2024
• The only thing that could be simpler would be me out there swinging a scythe back and forth — or releasing a herd of sheep to crop at the blades of grass.
  — John Kelly, Washington Post, 3 July 2022
• The agency’s mission that day was not to block the migrants from going back and forth across the river, according to the report.
  — Hamed Aleazizstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2022
• The Leafs have often rotated back and forth between Stolarz and Woll.
  — Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 13 Dec. 2024
• The launch coincides with Google's ongoing DOJ back and forth.
  — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
• Their mom, Shira Moffatt, captured the scene as the elk excitedly nudged the ball back and forth with the teens for several minutes.
  — Ronnie Li, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024
• They will be clustered in and around their minivans and S.U.V.s, passing pulpo, mofongo and lechón asado back and forth through open windows.
  — New York Times, 21 June 2022
• To work, the lithium ions must be moved back and forth between two ends of the battery cell: one typically made of some kind of metal oxide and the other primarily out of graphite.
  — Emma Marris, The Atlantic, 13 July 2022
• The audit went so deeply into his finances that his accountant had a back and forth with the agency about how much the Comeys had spent on office supplies purchased more than two years earlier.
  — Michael S. Schmidt, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2022
• After hearing the two go back and forth sharing their unpleasant experiences, fans were quick to rally around them with heartfelt messages in the Instagram comments section.
  — Selena Barrientos, Good Housekeeping, 26 June 2022
• As the two foes continued to go back and forth, the conversation returned to Diana's traumatic miscarriage experience.
  — Dory Jackson, PEOPLE.com, 30 June 2022
• Things were yo-yoing back and forth right up to the 11th hour.
  — Jp Brammer, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024
• Praise music floats in the air and the crowd rocks back and forth.
  — Sam Kestenbaum, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2022
• The two had been going back and forth in the race all year.
  — Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 30 July 2024
• Pull it tight and move it back and forth within the guide.
  — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 7 Dec. 2023
• Plants sway in the current and fish dart back and forth.
  — Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 20 June 2024
• There was a lot of back and forth about what line would be drawn.
  — Claire B. Wofford, The Conversation, 25 Apr. 2024
• Shahrzad goes back and forth as to whether the protests will succeed.
  — Omid Khazani and Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2022
• The camera pans back and forth searching for the whales.
  — Mark R. Weaver, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024
• Rock your rolling pin back and forth over the parchment to flatten the dough.
  — Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appétit, 8 Dec. 2023
• As the actors volleyed back and forth, so did the tension.
  — Steven Vargasstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2023
• From this point, the show moves back and forth in time leading up to Paris.
  — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 July 2024
• Despite the back and forth, Belushi filed for divorce in 2021.
  — Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 20 Oct. 2023
• Roll the roller from the jaw to the cheekbone and repeat, avoiding moving the roller back and forth.
  — Lauren Manaker, Health, 27 Mar. 2023
• And this back and forth doesn't serve people like them at all.
  — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2024

Last Updated: 1 Jan 2025