double back on itself
Hello.

Could you, please, tell me what "double back ON ITSELF" means in the dictionary example below?

'The trail up the mountain doubles back on itself several times.'

Thank you.

Question

double back on itself
Hello.

Could you, please, tell me what "double back ON ITSELF" means in the dictionary example below?

'The trail up the mountain doubles back on itself several times.'

Thank you.

Answer

A trail that doubles back on itself is a trail that goes in one direction for a while, then almost reverses and goes back the direction it came from in a direction very close to or parallel to the way it came up.

I'll try an example.

Imagine you want to go from A (bottom) to F (top)
The track goes from A to B, B to C, C to D, D to E, and E to F

A..........................B
..............C..............................D
............................. E................................F

Notice that the B-C and D-E section of the trail  is going backwards a bit in the direction you came from. You would say that from B to C, and D to E the trail is doubling back on itself.

Edit: I couldn't get the diagram to work too good, but I hope you get the idea. Imagine a straight line from B-C and D-E :)

Just looked at this on my phone and it looks a bit confusing. I'll leave the answer in case it makes sense to someone :)

Answer

Goes back then back again in the opposite direction of the first direction.

Answer

Hi, it just means: "the track goes back the way it came from".