[back] n [ME, fr. OE baec; akin to OHG bah back] (bef. 12c) 1 a (1): the rear part of the human body esp. from the neck to the end of the spine (2): the body considered as the wearer of clothes (3): capacity for labor, effort, or endurance (4): the back considered as the seat of one's awareness of duty or failings "get off my ~" b: the part of a lower animal (as a quadruped) corresponding to the human back c: spinal column d: backbone
4.
2. a: the side or surface opposite the front or face: the rear part; also: the farther or reverse side b: something at or on the back for support "~ of a chair" c: a place away from the front "sat in ~"
3: a position in some games (as football or soccer) behind the front line of players; also: a player in this position -- backed adj -- back.less adj -- back of one's hand or back of the hand : a show of contempt -- back of one's mind : the remote part of one's mind where thoughts and memories are stored to be drawn on -- behind one's back : without one's knowledge: in secret -- in back of : behind
[2]back adv (14c) 1 a: to, toward, or at the rear b: in or into the past: backward in time; also: ago c: to or at an angle off the vertical d (1): under restraint (2): in a delayed or retarded condition
2. a: to, toward, or in a place from which a person or thing came b: to or toward a former state c: in return or reply [3]back adj (15c) 1 a: being at or in the back "~ door" b: distant from a central or main area "~ roads" c: articulated at or toward the back of the oral passage "~ vowels"
2: having returned or been returned
3: being in arrears: overdue
4: moving or operating backward: reverse
5: not current "~ numbers of a magazine"
6: constituting the final
9. holes of an 18-hole golf course [4]back vt (1548) 1 a: to support by material or moral assistance--usu. used with up b: substantiate c: to assume financial responsibility for d: to provide musical accompaniment for--often used with up
2. a: to cause to go back or in reverse b: to articulate (a sound) with the tongue farther back 3 a: to furnish with a back b: to be at the back of ~ vi 1: to move backward--often used with up
2. of the wind: to shift counterclockwise--compare veer
3: to have the back in the direction of something syn see support, recede -- back.er n -- back and fill 1: to manage the sails of a ship so as to keep it clear of obstructions as its floats down with the current of a river or channel
2: to take opposite positions alternately: shilly-shally -- back into : to get into inadvertently "backed into the antiques business"