retrace one's steps

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One is led on and on with a zany Cartesian logic, but one can never retrace one's steps and relate the story coherently.

From Time Magazine Archive

The descent to Avernus is easy; the gate of Pluto stands open night and day; but to retrace one's steps and return to the upper air, that is the toil, that the difficulty.

From Bulfinch's Mythology: the Age of Fable by Bulfinch, Thomas

To retrace one's steps, and follow to the end the faintly distinguishable directions, appears to be the essential element in poetic imagination.

From Laughter : an Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Brereton, Cloudesley Shovell Henry

"The gates of Dis stand open night and day; small trouble it is to descend thereto, but to retrace one's steps, and regain the upper air, there lies the toil."

From National Epics by Rabb, Kate Milner

But there are so many "pastures green," and it is often difficult to retrace one's steps.

From The Art of Interior Decoration by Wood, Grace