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back to square one

Located back at the start, as after a dead-end or failure.

Etymology:

  • Possibly from either of the children’s games hopscotch or snakes and ladders.
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“

After spending six hours on the intake we realized that there was nothing wrong with it, so we are back to square one.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'back to square one':

Back to Square OneA situation in which, one has to return to an earlier state due to certain drawbacks or failures
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возвращается на круги своя

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to back to square one

back on toback offback-burnerback waterback wallback offback to the salt minesback outback upback upback officeback to the wallBack to Drawing Boardback on one's heels

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    "back to square one." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/back-to-square-one_2153>.

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