Deeper Dive: back

Word Story
Quotes

“I am a slow walker but I never walk back". Abraham Lincoln

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for growing plant and for the soul of the child.” Carl Jung

“If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they’re yours; if they don’t they never were.” Richard Bach

“Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.” James Thurber

Collocations
with your back to somebody/something

behind your back

at your back

back off

back out

back again

I will get back to you

back noun [F. bac: cf. Arm. bag, bak a bark, D. bak tray, bowl.]

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. Hop back

Jack back
the cistern which receives the infusion of malt and hops from the copper.
> Wash back
> a vat in which distillers ferment the wort to form wash.
Water back
> a cistern to hold a supply of water; esp. a small cistern at the back of a stove, or a group of pipes set in the fire box of a stove or furnace, through which water circulates and is heated.
2. A ferryboat. See Bac, 1.
(băk), noun [AS. bæc, bac; akin to Icel., Sw., & LG. bak, Dan. bag; cf. OHG. bahho ham, Skr. bhaj to turn, OSlav. bēgŭ flight. Cf. Bacon.]

1. 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.

2. An extended upper part, as of a mountain or ridge.
[The mountains] their broad bare back s upheave Into the clouds. Milton.
3. The outward or upper part of a thing, as opposed to the inner or lower part; as, the back of the hand, the back of the foot, the back of a hand rail.
Methought Love pitying me, when he saw this,
Gave me your hands, the back s and palms to kiss. Donne.
4. The part opposed to the front; the hinder or rear part of a thing; as, the back of a book; the back of an army; the back of a chimney.

5. The part opposite to, or most remote from, that which fronts the speaker or actor; or the part out of sight, or not generally seen; as, the back of an island, of a hill, or of a village.

6. The part of a cutting tool on the opposite side from its edge; as, the back of a knife, or of a saw.

7. A support or resource in reserve.
This project
Should have a back or second, that might hold,
If this should blast in proof. Shak.
8. (Naut.) The keel and keelson of a ship.

9. (Mining) The upper part of a lode, or the roof of a horizontal underground passage.

10. A garment for the back ; hence, clothing. [Obs.]
A bak to walken inne by daylight. Chaucer.
3 Behind one’s back
when one is absent; without one's knowledge; as, to ridicule a person behind his back .
> Full back

Half back

Quarter back (Football),
players stationed behind those in the front line.
– To be on one's back or To lie on one's back
to be helpless
– To put one's back up

to get one's back up
to assume an attitude of obstinate resistance (from the action of a cat when attacked). [Colloq.]
To see the back of
> to get rid of.
To turn the back
> to go away; to flee.
> To turn the back on one
> to forsake or neglect him.
Back , adjective

1. Being at the back or in the rear; distant; remote; as, the back door; back settlements.

2. Being in arrear; overdue; as, back rent.

3. Moving or operating back ward; as, back action.
back (băk), transitive verb [imperfect or past participle back ed (băkt); present participle or verbal noun back ing.]

1. To get upon the back of; to mount.
I will back him [a horse] straight. Shak.
2. To place or seat upon the back . [R.]
Great Jupiter, upon his eagle back ed,
Appeared to me. Shak.
3. To drive or force back ward; to cause to retreat or recede; as, to back oxen.

4. To make a back for; to furnish with a back ; as, to back books.

5. To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
A garden . . . with a vineyard back ed. Shak.

The chalk cliffs which back the beach. Huxley.
6. To write upon the back of; as, to back a letter; to indorse; as, to back a note or legal document.

7. To support; to maintain; to second or strengthen by aid or influence; as, to back a friend.
“The Parliament would be back ed by the people.” Macaulay.

Have still found it necessary to back and fortify their laws with rewards and punishments. South.

The mate back ed the captain manfully. Blackw. Mag.
8. To bet on the success of; – as, to back a race horse.
To back an anchor (Naut.),
to lay down a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one
To back the field
> in horse racing, to bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated “the field”, will win.
To back the oars
to row back ward with the oars.
To back a rope
> to put on a preventer.
To back the sails
> to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern.
> To back up
> to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends.
> To back a warrant (Law)
is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender.
> To back water (Naut.),
to reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship back ward.
Back , intransitive verb

1. To move or go back ward; as, the horse refuses to back .

2. (Naut.) To change from one quarter to another by a course opposite to that of the sun; – used of the wind.

3. (Sporting) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed; – said of a dog. [Eng.]

To back and fill
to manage the sails of a ship so that the wind strikes them alternately in front and behind, in order to keep the ship in the middle of a river or channel while the current or tide carries the vessel against the wind.
Hence: (Fig.)
To take opposite positions alternately; to assert and deny. [Colloq.] –
To back out

To back down
to retreat or withdraw from a promise, engagement, or contest; to recede. [Colloq.]

Cleon at first . . . was willing to go; but, finding that he [Nicias] was in earnest, he tried to back out. Jowett (Thucyd. )
Back , adverb

[Shortened from aback.]

1. In, to, or toward, the rear; as, to stand back ; to step back .

2. To the place from which one came; to the place or person from which something is taken or derived; as, to go back for something left behind; to go back to one's native place; to put a book back after reading it.

3. To a former state, condition, or station; as, to go back to private life; to go back to barbarism.

4. (Of time) In times past; ago. “Sixty or seventy years back .” Gladstone.

5. Away from contact; by reverse movement.
The angel of the Lord . . . came, and rolled back the stone from the door. Matt. xxviii. 2.
6. In concealment or reserve; in one's own possession; as, to keep back the truth; to keep back part of the money due to another.

7. In a state of restraint or hindrance.
The Lord hath kept thee back from honor. Numb. xxiv. 11.
8. In return, repayment, or requital.
What have I to give you back ? Shak.
9. In withdrawal from a statement, promise, or undertaking; as, he took back the offensive words.

10. In arrear; as, to be back in one's rent. [Colloq.]

back and forth
backwards and forwards; to and fro.
To go back on
to turn back from; to abandon; to betray; as, to go back on a friend; to go back on one's professions. [Colloq.]


-- Webster's unabridged 1913




morpheme phoneme statistics idioms




ignite