hark back

verb
/ˌhɑːk ˈbæk/UK/ˌhɑɹk ˈbæk/US/ˈhɑːkbæk/UK/ˈhɑɹkˌbæk/US

Etymology

From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”.

Definitions

  1. Of hounds

    Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey.

  2. To return to where one has previously been

    To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps.

    • He must have overshot the mark, and must hark back. So he turned his weary horse's head, and made his way back along the road to the spot where his spoor struck into it.
  3. To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.)

    To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event).

    • Harking back to the theme of a series of speeches he [George W. Bush] delivered last week, he said he was reminded that "there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict the same kind of damage again."
  4. + 2 more definitions
    1. To call back (hounds)

      To call back (hounds); to recall.

    2. Alternative form of hark-back.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for hark back. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA