set one's watch back

verb

To ponder or experience a past time.

“Set your watch back to 1773, as I explain what happened at the Boston Tea Party.”

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Meanings

verbset one's watch back (third-person singular simple present sets one's watch back, present participle setting one's watch back, simple past and past participle set one's watch back)

present singular third person sets one's watch back · participle present setting one's watch back

  1. idiomaticimperativeTo ponder or experience a past time.

    Set your watch back to 1773, as I explain what happened at the Boston Tea Party.

    3 more examples

    Tony drove more slowly than usual , and Ginny felt the tension of the day slip away . He took her to a tiny café tucked away on a quiet street. “Set your watch back to 1932," Tony said as he pulled out a chair for her […]

    1985, Amanda York, Stardust and Sand, Harlequin Books, →ISBN

    Set your watch back to the Ice Age and […]

    1985, Flying

    ... representatives are women, which doesn't remotely reflect the diversity of the automotive customer base, and has the added side effect of making you feel like you have to set your watch back to 1972 when you step into a dealership.

    2011, Bridget Brennan, Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World's Most Powerful Consumers, Currency, →ISBN, page 106
Cite this entry
APA

set one's watch back. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20watch%20back

MLA

“set one's watch back.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20watch%20back. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “set one's watch back,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20watch%20back.

Source: set one's watch back on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.