reverting

Everyday

1. Going back to an earlier state, habit or way of behaving. tree →
2. (law) Property going back to its former owner. tree →
3. (computing) Undoing changes and going back to an earlier version. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life it describes going back to old habits, such as reverting to bad spelling over the holidays. In computing it means undoing changes to a document or code. In science, wild-bred animals or plants reverting to their wild form. Phrases: «reverting to», «reverting back».

Examples

• After the holidays, he kept reverting to his old messy handwriting. tree →
• The school is reverting to the old timetable. tree →
• The garden is reverting to wild grass. tree →
• I'm reverting the document to yesterday's version. tree →
• Without practice, she was reverting to bad habits. tree →
• The land is reverting to the farmer after the lease ends. tree →

Note

Form of «revert»; always with «to». «Revert back» repeats itself, but people say it. In business English «I will revert» means «I will reply» — this is Indian and some business English, not usual in UK/US.