square one

listen to the pronunciation of square one
English - English
the place where one begins; a lack of progress

We discovered that our first idea would never work, so we were back to square one.

the situation in which you begin an endeavor and to which you return if your efforts fail; "the police are now back at square one after having arrested and released 27 men"; "she has tried to diet but always ends up back at square one
The starting point
back to square one
Located back at the start, as after a dead-end or failure

After spending six hours on the intake we realized that there was nothing wrong with it, so we are back to square one.

back to square one
Back to the start, as after a dead-end or failure

After spending six hours on the intake we realized that there was nothing wrong with it, so we went back to square one.

back to square one
Back to where one started. "We were forced to go back to square one in our efforts to change the name of the company."
back to square one
(deyim) Back to the beginning
back to square one
(deyim) If you are back to square one, you have to start working on a plan from the beginning because your previous attempt failed and the progress you made is now wasted
back to square one
(Informal) starting all over again at the beginning of the process
was back to square one
returned to the starting point, found himself back where he started
square one
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