̈ɪbæk n., adv.,
v., & adj. --n. 1 a
the rear
surface of the
human body from the shoulders to the hips. b the corresponding upper surface of an animal's body. c the
spine (fell
and broke his back). d the keel of a
ship. 2 a
any surface regarded as corresponding to the human back, e.g. of the
head or
hand, or of a
chair. b the
part of a
garment that covers the back. 3 a the
less active or
visible or
important part of
something functional, e.g. of a
knife or a
piece of
paper (write it on the back). b the
side or part
normally away from the
spectator or the
direction of
motion or
attention, e.g. of a
car,
house, or
room (stood at the back). 4 a a
defensive player in
field games. b
this position. 5 (the Backs) the grounds of Cambridge colleges
which back on to the
River Cam. --adv. 1 to the rear; away from
what is considered to be the
front (go back a bit;
ran off without looking back). 2 a in or
into an earlier or
normal position or
condition (came back
late;
went back
home; ran back to the car; put it back on the shelf). b in
return (pay back). 3 in or into the
past (back in
June;
three years back). 4 at a
distance (stand back from the road). 5 in check (hold
him back). 6 (foll. by of) US
behind (was back of the house). --v. 1 tr. a
help with moral or
financial support. b
bet on the
success of (a
horse etc.). 2 tr. & intr.
move, or
cause (a
vehicle etc.) to move,
backwards. 3 tr. a put or
serve as a back,
background, or support
to. b Mus.
accompany. 4 tr. lie at the back of (a
beach backed by steep cliffs). 5 intr. (of the wind) move
round in an
anticlockwise direction. --adj. 1 situated behind,
esp. as
remote or
subsidiary (backstreet; back teeth). 2 of or relating to the past;
not current (back pay; back issue). 3 reversed (back flow). øat a person's back in
pursuit or support. at the back of one's
mind remembered but not consciously thought
of. back and
forth to and
fro. back
bench a back-bencher's
seat in the House of
Commons. back-bencher a
member of
Parliament not
holding a
senior office. back-boiler
Brit. a
boiler behind and
integral with a
domestic fire. back-breaking (esp. of
manual work) extremely
hard. back
country esp.
Austral. & NZ an
area away from settled districts. back-crawl =
BACKSTROKE. back-cross Biol. 1
cross a
hybrid with
one of
its parents. 2 an
instance or the
product of this. back
door a
secret or
ingenious means of gaining an
objective. back-door adj. (of an activity)
clandestine,
underhand (back-door deal). back down
withdraw one's
claim or
point of
view etc.;
concede defeat in an
argument etc. back-down n. an instance of
backing down. back-fill
refill an excavated
hole with the
material dug
out of
it. back-formation 1 the
formation of a
word from its seeming
derivative (e.g.
laze from lazy). 2 a word formed in this
way. back
number 1 an
issue of a
periodical earlier
than the current one. 2 sl. an out-of-date
person or
thing. the back of
beyond a
very remote or
inaccessible place. back off 1
draw back,
retreat. 2
abandon one's
intention,
stand, etc. back on to
have its back
adjacent to (the house backs on to a field). back out (often foll. by of) withdraw from a
commitment. back passage colloq. the
rectum. back-pedal (-pedalled, -pedalling; US -pedaled, -pedaling) 1 pedal backwards on a
bicycle etc. 2
reverse one's
previous action or
opinion. back-projection the
projection of a
picture from behind a
translucent screen for viewing or filming. back room (often (with hyphen) attrib.) a place
where secret
work is
done. back-scattering the scattering of
radiation in a reverse direction. back seat an
inferior position or
status. back-seat
driver a person
who is
eager to
advise without
responsibility (orig. of a
passenger in a car etc.). back
slang slang using words spelt backwards (e.g. yob). back-stop =
LONGSTOP. back
talk US =
BACKCHAT. back to back with backs adjacent and
opposite each other (we
stood back to back). back-to-back adj. esp. Brit. (of houses) with a party
wall at the rear. back to front 1 with the back at the front and the front at the back. 2 in
disorder. back-to-nature (usu. attrib.)
applied to a
movement or
enthusiast for the
reversion to a simpler way of
life. back up 1
give (esp. moral) support to. 2 Computing
make a
spare copy of (data, a
disk, etc.). 3 (of
running water)
accumulate behind an
obstruction. 4 reverse (a vehicle) into a desired position. 5 US
form a
queue of vehicles etc., esp. in congested
traffic. back
water reverse a boat's
forward motion using oars.
get (or put) a person's back up
annoy or
anger a person. get off a person's back
stop troubling a person. go back on
fail to
honour (a
promise or commitment).
know like the back of one's hand be
entirely familiar with. on one's back
injured or
ill in
bed. on the back
burner see BURNER. put one's back into
approach (a
task etc.) with
vigour. see the back of see
SEE(1).
turn one's back on 1 abandon. 2
ignore. with one's back to (or up against) the wall in a
desperate situation; hard-pressed. øøbacker n. (in
sense 1 of v.). backless adj. [OE bóc f. Gmc]