Retrack

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To revise or modify a previously established route or plan
2. To adjust the course taken in order to return to a prior path or decision
3. To change direction by going back over previously covered ground or reconsidering earlier choices

Etymology: "Retrack" is about as transparent as English compounds get: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back," attached to "track," a word that came into English from Old French "trac," a trail or the mark a foot leaves on the ground. Put together, the verb means to go back along a path already walked, retracing the marks one left earlier. The figurative sense follows naturally from that picture. Someone who retracks is not simply turning around but following their own footprints, so the word came to cover reconsidering earlier choices as well as physical backtracking. The metaphor of the trail stays visible: a decision reversed is treated as a route doubled back over.

Synonyms: retrace, redo, revisit, repeat, follow again

Antonyms: advance, move on, progress, forge ahead