sit back
Britishverb
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Relax, as in Now that the work's finished, we can just sit back .
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Refrain from interfering or taking part, as in Mom and Dad just sat back and watched Meg try to decide whether or not she should tell on her friends . [Mid-1900s] Also see sit by .
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.
“Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end – It always does!”
From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026
Sometimes it can be hard to sit back and be happy that the stock market is at all-time highs.
From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026
Listeners, meanwhile, are free to sit back and imbibe the music.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
They were relentless with the way they attacked when it was 1-1 and, rather than sit back, they kept attacking when they went 2-1 up.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
“Just sit back and do nothing? That doesn’t sound like you.”
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
