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hark back to

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hark(en) back to something

 

1. to have originated as something; to have started out as something. (Harken is an older word meaning "pay heed to.") The word icebox harks back to refrigerators that were cooled by ice. Our modern breakfast cereals hark back to the porridge and gruel of our ancestors.

2. to remind one of something. Seeing a horse and buggy in the park harks back to the time when horses drew milk wagons. Sally says it harkens back to the time when everything was delivered by horse-drawn wagons.

See also: back, hark

hark back to something

to be similar to something from the past His music harks back to Elvis Presley and other 1950s influences.

See also: back, hark