How to Use square one in a Sentence

square one

noun
  • They lost everything and found themselves back at square one.
  • For Lennon, that was the new square one.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 15 May 2026
  • Thousands of lives were lost to arrive back to square one.
    — Farah N. Jan, The Conversation, 15 June 2026
  • Wentz failed, both on the field and off, putting the Colts back at square one.
    — Joel A. Erickson, The Indianapolis Star, 21 Mar. 2022
  • There was a round turret at one end of the main house and a square one at the other.
    — John Kelly, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2018
  • But trying to leapfrog over the next steps could send us back to square one, experts say.
    — Melody Schreiber, The New Republic, 17 Apr. 2020
  • The film sets the stakes high from square one by showing us what the reporters will try to stop.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Successful court challenges can send a project back to square one.
    — Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2022
  • The compromise pick would be to call it a sandbox, but that just takes us back to square one.
    — Gene Park, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2019
  • Little attention has been given to those who fail and get kicked back to square one.
    — Lillian Perlmutter, The New Republic, 13 Sep. 2023
  • Following an impulse to ditch your routine could put you right back at square one!
    — Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 14 July 2024
  • Even if that happens, their battle with the insurer will go back to square one.
    — Annie Waldman, CNN, 14 Dec. 2024
  • Often people are starting at square one, with only a few names and dates of births.
    — J.m. Banks, Kansas City Star, 18 July 2024
  • This loss probably won’t send the Mustangs back to square one.
    — Sam Blum, Dallas News, 28 Nov. 2020
  • Now $44 million and four years later, the cars are gone and the city is back to square one.
    — Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024
  • One of the lenses should be a periscope telephoto camera — the square one.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 12 July 2021
  • Going back to square one may sound simple, but the tax system is rigid and rarely simple.
    — Robert W. Wood, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Now, Memphis is back to square one with Morant once again on the sidelines.
    — Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 9 Jan. 2024
  • But those decisions were scrapped last year, sending the effort back to square one.
    — Simon Montlake, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 July 2023
  • That deal sits at square one, the same tough starting point other presidents faced.
    — Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 18 July 2018
  • The judges may find that the mistrial should have been granted — and bring the case all the way back to square one.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 16 June 2024
  • Democrats, Schnur said, are essentially back to square one.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 13 Apr. 2026
  • But when we’re not afforded this type of recognition, so many of them have to start back at square one.
    — The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Feb. 2023
  • One feature to make sure your sectional has is a curved middle instead of a square one.
    — Ashlyn Needham, The Spruce, 12 Jan. 2026
  • But take one or both out of the team and Everton suddenly look back to square one.
    — James Nalton, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2021
  • Going back to square one to cater for Messi could be disruptive.
    — Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2022
  • The game is starting from square one; with many of the old problems wearing a different skin.
    — Steven Strom, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2017
  • The Mean Green are back to square one in conference play and play their first two league games are at home.
    — Brett Vito, Denton Record-Chronicle, 29 Sep. 2020
  • In the pursuit, Pope drops the camera, damaging the tape, which brings them back to square one.
    — refinery29.com, 4 Aug. 2021
  • Of course, everyone knows how that played out, so now the Jets are back at square one at quarterback.
    — Zack Rosenblatt, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'square one.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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