# go back to the drawing board

idiom · CEFR B2

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/go-back-to-the-drawing-board
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To start again; to scrap a previous idea or plan and try again from the beginning.

## Examples

- The plan failed, so we must go back to the drawing board.
- Since the client rejected our initial design proposal, the team decided to go back to the drawing board to create something better.
- After the experimental results proved inconclusive, the researchers were forced to go back to the drawing board and rethink their entire methodology from the start.

## Origin

From Peter Arno's 1941 New Yorker cartoon showing a crashed plane and an engineer saying 'Well, back to the old drawing board.' (disputed)

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.