back
/bæk/ adjective, adverb, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms further back farther back furthest back farthest back backs backing backed
- adjective At or near the rear. “Go in the back door of the house.”
- adjective (predicative) Returned or restored to a previous place or condition. “He was on vacation, but now he’s back.”
- adjective Not current. “I’d like to find a back issue of that magazine.”
- adjective Situated away from the main or most frequented areas. “They took a back road.”
- adjective In arrears; overdue. “They still owe three months’ back rent.”
- adjective Moving or operating backward. “back action”
- adjective (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). “The vowel of lot has a back vowel in most dialects of England.”
- adverb (not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place. “He gave back the money.”
- adverb In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing. “Someone pushed me in the chest and I fell back.”
- adverb In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively. “Wind the film back a few frames.”
- adverb Towards, into or in the past. “These records go back years.”
- adverb Away from someone or something; at a distance. “Keep back! It could explode at any moment!”
- adverb Away from the front or from an edge (of something or someone). “Sit all the way back in your chair.”
- adverb So as to shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so. “This tree is dying back.”
- adverb In a manner that impedes. “Fear held him back.”
- noun The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly. “Could you please scratch my back?”
- noun The spine and associated tissues. “I hurt my back lifting those crates.”
- noun (slang, uncountable) Large and attractive buttocks.
- noun (figurative) The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back. “I still need to finish the back of your dress.”
- noun The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back. “Can you fix the back of this chair?”
Synonyms
rear former previous spine reverse dorsum spinal column vertebral column backbone rachis binding book binding cover backrest endorse indorse plump for plunk for support second bet on gage stake game punt back up hind hinder backward backwards
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *baką, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to bend”). The adverb represents an aphetic form of aback.
Compare Middle Low German bak (“back”), from Old Saxon bak, and West Frisian bekling (“chair back”), Old High German bah, Swedish and Norwegian bak. Cognate with German Bache (“sow [adult female hog]”).
Borrowed from French bac.
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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. Hop back, Jack back, the cistern which receives the infusion of malt and hops from the copper.
- noun A ferryboat. See Bac, 1
- noun In human beings, the hinder part of the body, extending from the neck to the end of the spine; in other animals, that part of the body which corresponds most nearly to such part of a human being; as, the back of a horse, fish, or lobster.
- noun An extended upper part, as of a mountain or ridge.
Etymology [F. bac: cf. Arm. bak tray, bowl.]
Etymology [As bæc, bac; akin to Icel., Sw., & LG. bak, Dan. bag; cf. OHG. bahho ham, Skr. bhaj to turn, OSlav. b flight. Cf. Bacon.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “back”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details