back
IPA: bˈæk
noun
- The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
- The spine and associated tissues.
- (slang, uncountable) Large and attractive buttocks.
- (figurative) The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back.
- The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back.
- (obsolete) That part of the body that bears clothing. (Now used only in the phrase clothes on one's back.)
- That which is farthest away from the front.
- The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side.
- The edge of a book which is bound.
- (printing) The inside margin of a page.
- The side of a blade opposite the side used for cutting.
- The reverse side; the side that is not normally seen.
- Area behind, such as the backyard of a house.
- The part of something that goes last.
- (sports) In some team sports, a position behind most players on the team.
- (figuratively) Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back.
- A support or resource in reserve.
- (nautical) The keel and keelson of a ship.
- (mining) The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
- (slang, uncountable) Effort, usually physical.
- A non-alcoholic drink (often water or a soft drink), to go with hard liquor or a cocktail.
- Among leather dealers, one of the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
- A large shallow vat; a cistern, tub, or trough, used by brewers, distillers, dyers, picklers, gluemakers, and others, for mixing or cooling wort, holding water, hot glue, etc.
- A ferryboat.
- A surname.
- A settlement on the Isle of Lewis, Western Isles council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NB4840).
- (swimming) Clipping of backstroke. [A backhanded stroke or blow.]
verb
- (intransitive) To go in the reverse direction.
- (transitive) To support.
- (nautical, of the wind) To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
- (nautical, of a square sail) To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
- (nautical, of an anchor) To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
- (UK, of a hunting dog) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.
- (transitive) To push or force backwards.
- (transitive, obsolete) To get upon the back of; to mount.
- (transitive, obsolete) To place or seat upon the back.
- To make a back for; to furnish with a back.
- To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
- To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement.
- (law, of a justice of the peace) To sign or endorse (a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender).
- To row backward with (oars).
- (MLE, transitive) To draw from behind the back [+accusative = a knife etc.] (as also back out).
- (Nigeria, transitive) To carry an infant on one's back.
adjective
- At or near the rear.
- (predicative) Returned or restored to a previous place or condition.
- Not current.
- Situated away from the main or most frequented areas.
- In arrears; overdue.
- Moving or operating backward.
- (comparable, phonetics) Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the back of the mouth, near the soft palate (most often describing a vowel).
adverb
- (not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place.
- In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.
- In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively.
- So as to reverse direction and return.
- Towards, into or in the past.
- Away from someone or something; at a distance.
- Away from the front or from an edge.
- So as to shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so.
- In a manner that impedes.
- (not comparable) In a reciprocal manner; in return.
- (postpositive) Earlier, ago.
- To a later point in time. See also put back.
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Examples of "back" in Sentences
- Not here, Ma'am Try back later.
- Something whizzed behind my back.
- He slammed the door behind his back.
- Someone tapped my shoulder behind my back.
- The man heard the therenody behind his back.
- Some of the paperwork dated back to the late 1800s.
- The back hand grabs the heel side of the board behind the back leg.
- Bob Cousy added the behind the back dribble fifty years later, and now.
- Sniggering and whispering behind the back of a hand, that sort of caper.
- There is a perceptible hump in the back, beginning just behind the head.