A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

come back • go back
come back —
1
. return to a place: I’m going away and I may
never come back. 2. become fashionable again; be restored:
Some people would be glad to see corporal punishment come
back. 3. return to the memory: At first I could not remember
why everything seemed so familiar; then it all came back.
go back —
1
. = come back 
1
: You should never go back, they
say, to the scene of your past romance. 2. (of troops) move
backwards; retreat: Our army had to go back a few miles when
the enemy won an advantage. 3. return to work after a strike:
I’ll be glad when the post office workers go back, it’s very
difficult not getting any letters.
come back at someone • come back to someone
come back at someone —reply to a person forcefully or an-
grily: She came back at the speaker with some sharp ques-
tions.
come back to someone —
1
. return to a person’s memory: It is
all coming back to me now. 2. reply to a person about smth.
after a period of time: Can I come back to you on that one
later?
come before someone • go before someone
come before someone —
1
. be higher in rank or greater in im-
portance than another person: Members of the Royal Family
come before lords and ladies. 2. (of an issue, suggestion, etc.) be
presented (to an authoritative body) for consideration or
judgement : Each case that comes before the committee is
treated individually. 3. appear before a court of law, etc.: At
your arraignment you will come before the judge and be in-
formed of the charges against you.
go before someone —
1
. live and die earlier than smb.: No-
vember is the month of All Saints; a time when we especially
remember in our prayers those who have gone before us. 2. =
come before someone 2: This matter will go before a committee
later this month and will be debated and a decision made.