backpack
/ˈbæk.pæk/ noun, verb
Forms backpacks backpacking backpacked back pack bagpack
- noun A knapsack, sometimes mounted on a light frame, but always supported by straps, worn on a person’s back for the purpose of carrying things, especially when hiking, or on a student's back when carrying books.
- noun A similarly placed item containing a parachute or other life support equipment.
- verb (intransitive) To hike and camp overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack. “I spent a month backpacking in the Rockies.”
- verb (intransitive) To engage in low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodation.
- verb (transitive, rare) To place or carry (an item or items) in a backpack. “Astronauts backpack oxygen during spacewalks.”
Synonyms
book bag bookbag booksack haversack knapsack packsack rucksack back pack pack
Etymology
From back + pack. First attested in 1896.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “backpack”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details