English Explanatory Dictionary

backhander

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A glass of wine given out of turn, the bottle having been handed backwards.
  2. A blow with the back of the hand.
  3. A bribe, a secret payment.
  4. A shot played backhand, a backhand stroke.
  5. A player who plays a backhand shot.
  6. A surfer who approaches a swell with the wave behind them ("on their backhand") rather than facing the wave ("on their forehand").

Pronunciation

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Word forms

backhander backhanders

Etymology

From backhand + -er (patient suffix) or -er (agent noun suffix).

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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