Backtracking

//ˈbæk.tɹækɪŋ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of one who, or that which, backtracks; a retracing of one's steps. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    The usage of a runway as a taxiway, especially at private strips and smaller airports. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    The act of building all possible solutions to a problem incrementally, abandoning any candidate solution if it cannot lead to a valid solution. countable, uncountable

    "backtracking algorithm"

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of backtrack form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
backback downback upbackpedalbacktaxibacktaxi

Example

More examples

"Backtracking is used to solve problems in which a sequence of objects is chosen from a specific set so that the sequence satisfies some criterion. The classic example of the use of backtracking is the n-Queens problem."

Related phrases

catastrophic backtrackingrunaway backtracking

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.