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]