WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

turn back
    v 1: retrace one's course; "The hikers got into a storm and had
         to turn back" [syn: backtrack, turn back, double
         back]
    2: go back to a previous state; "We reverted to the old rules"
       [syn: revert, return, retrovert, regress, turn
       back]
    3: force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric
       meanings; "Drive away potential burglars"; "drive away bad
       thoughts"; "dispel doubts"; "The supermarket had to turn back
       many disappointed customers" [syn: chase away, drive out,
       turn back, drive away, dispel, drive off, run off]
    4: hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or
       influence of; "Arrest the downward trend"; "Check the growth
       of communism in South East Asia"; "Contain the rebel
       movement"; "Turn back the tide of communism" [syn: check,
       turn back, arrest, stop, contain, hold back]
    5: turn inside out or upside down [syn: turn back, invert,
       reverse]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

146 Moby Thesaurus words for "turn back":
   about ship, assimilate to, avert, back and fill, bear away,
   bear off, bear to starboard, beat, beat about, beat back, become,
   box off, break, break back, bring about, bring round, bring to,
   brush off, cant, cant round, cast, cast about, change, change back,
   change course, change into, change over, change the heading, chase,
   chase away, chase off, come about, come again, come back,
   come home, come up again, convert, cry back, cut, dismiss,
   do a flip-flop, do an about-face, do over, double, double a point,
   double back, draw aside, drive away, drive back, ease off, echo,
   edge off, fend off, fetch about, flip-flop, fly off, gee, glance,
   glance off, go about, go back, go home, go off, gybe, hark back,
   haw, head off, heave round, hold off, jib, jibe, jibe all standing,
   keep coming, keep off, make, make over, make way for, miss stays,
   move aside, naturalize, pack off, ply, push back, put about,
   put back, react, reappear, rebuff, reconvert, recur, reduce to,
   refuse, render, reoccur, repeat, repel, repulse, resolve into,
   resound, resume, return, reverberate, reverse, revert,
   round a point, send away, send off, send packing, sheer, sheer off,
   shift, shove aside, shunt, shy, shy off, side, sidestep, sidetrack,
   sidle, slew, snub, spurn, steer clear of, step aside, swerve,
   swing round, swing the stern, switch, switch over, tack,
   throw about, thrust back, transform, turn, turn about, turn around,
   turn aside, turn away, turn into, veer, veer off, ward off, wear,
   wear ship, wind, yaw