meaning - What is actually being doubled when someone has to "double back"?


I have frequently heard this phrase and used it myself when I've gone in a wrong direction either physically or at work metaphorically. However, I wonder why the phrase is double back, since once you realize the mistake that you have made, you only go back the way you came once, not twice or double the distance.



Answer



It is figurative.


If you take a rope, and fold it in half so the loose ends are together and your load/friend is hanging from the other, you have doubled the rope.


Walking out to some point and then walking back along the same route is like walking along a doubled rope, and it draws a contrast with a round trip which may have different routes for the outward leg and the return.


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