English Explanatory Dictionary

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English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. At or near the rear.
  2. Returned or restored to a previous place or condition.
  3. Not current.
  4. Situated away from the main or most frequented areas.
  5. In arrears; overdue.
  6. Moving or operating backward.
  7. 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).
adv
  1. To or in a previous condition or place.
  2. In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.
  3. In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively.
  4. Towards, into or in the past.
  5. Away from someone or something; at a distance.
  6. Away from the front or from an edge.
  7. So as to shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so.
  8. In a manner that impedes.
  9. In a reciprocal manner; in return.
  10. Earlier, ago.
  11. To a later point in time. See also put back.
noun
  1. The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
  2. The spine and associated tissues.
  3. Large and attractive buttocks.
  4. The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back.
  5. The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back.
  6. That part of the body that bears clothing. (Now used only in the phrase clothes on one's back.)
  7. That which is farthest away from the front.
  8. The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side.
  9. The edge of a book which is bound.
  10. The inside margin of a page.
  11. The side of a blade opposite the side used for cutting.
  12. The reverse side; the side that is not normally seen.
verb
  1. To go in the reverse direction.
  2. To support.
  3. To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
  4. To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
  5. To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
  6. To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.
  7. To push or force backwards.
  8. To get upon the back of; to mount.
  9. To place or seat upon the back.
  10. To make a back for; to furnish with a back.
  11. To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
  12. To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement.
noun
  1. 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.
  2. A ferryboat.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A settlement on the Isle of Lewis, Western Isles council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NB4840).

Pronunciation

/bæk/ [bæk] [bak] [-k̚] [-ˀk] En-us-back.ogg [bax] [bäk]

Word forms

back more back most back further back farther back furthest back farthest back backs backing backed

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-der.? Proto-Germanic *baką Proto-West Germanic *bak Old English bæc Middle English bak English back 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]”).

Synonyms

rear former previous reverse dorsum spine

Antonyms

front current main veer

Related words

back vowel bacon

Derived words

back alley back door back room backway spring forward, fall back aback A-back abackward arrowback assback baby back rib backache backake backaching back actor back against the wall back and edge back biter back day back extension backhoe back-of-an-envelope back-of-the-envelope back-pad back squat backward big back blow someone's back out boostback break one's arm patting oneself on the back break one's back break someone's back caseback Chinaman on one's back could be written on the back of a postage stamp could fit on the back of a postage stamp cover one's back cover someone's back defensive back does Dolly Parton sleep on her back drawing back fall off the back of a lorry fall off the back of a truck flat on one's back get someone's back get the band back together have eyes in the back of one's head have got someone's back have one's back up have someone's back h-back hingeback hinged-back tortoise horseback houseback humpback hunchback inch back key back like water off a duck's back

Translations

Abaga: arerefed̶̯ai Acehnese: likôt Afrikaans: rug Afrikaans: agter Afrikaans: agterkant Aklanon: buli' Aklanon: likod Albanian: shpinë Amharic: ጀርባ Ao: terongdong (Chungli) Western Apache: bigháń Arabic: ظَهْر Arabic: ضهر Arabic: ظَهَر Argobba: ዘርህ Armenian: մեջք Armenian: թիկունք Armenian: ետև Aromanian: schinari Aromanian: spatã Assamese: পিঠি Asturian: llombu Azerbaijani: bel Azerbaijani: arxa Bashkir: арҡа Bashkir: арт Basque: bizkar Belarusian: спі́на Belarusian: зад Bengali: পিঠ Breton: kein Bulgarian: гръб Bulgarian: за́дница Burmese: ကျော Catalan: esquena Chamicuro: tusna Chechen: букъ Chichewa: msana Chinese Cantonese: 背脊 Chinese: җибый Chinese: 尻脊骿 Chinese: 尻脊 Chinese Mandarin: 背部 Chinese Mandarin: 背 Chinese Mandarin: 脊背 Chinese Mandarin: 最後 /最后 Chuvash: ҫурӑм Coptic: ⲥⲟⲓ Coptic: ϭⲓⲥⲓ Cornish: keyn Czech: záda Czech: hřbet Czech: zadek Czech: zadní část Dalmatian: duas Danish: ryg Dutch: rug Dutch: achterkant Dutch: achter Egyptian: Aa18:Z1 Erzya: копорь Esperanto: dorso Esperanto: fundo Esperanto: malantaŭaĵo Esperanto: malantaŭo Estonian: selg
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