adverb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a backwards glance
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He took a quick backwards glance at the house, and then continued walking.
a step backwards/a backward step (= an action that makes things worse )
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A rationing system would be a major step backwards.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
drag
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She was dragged backwards and sideways through hedges.
fall
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Poor Mr Macgregor turned up after having lain with a woman but almost immediately fell backwards downstairs.
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The pain was searing, so that I fell backwards , and though I struggled, I could not stand up again.
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Madame Arcati was springing on to tables, falling backwards off stools and dancing eccentric tangos.
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Fergus woke in utter darkness, wondering where he was; he felt as though he was falling backwards for ever into darkness.
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He fell backwards , already rolling as he struck the trampoline between the hulls.
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Need to recover from falling backwards . 3.
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As the Toyota moves forward they fall backwards .
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Now, in the television ads, he cheerfully delivered some hammy lines before falling backwards into a swimming pool.
go
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A miracle had happened, and time had gone backwards .
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Evolution had reached its peak and was going backwards .
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Peter: Why did you go backwards when I was coming to you?
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He was supposed to be the leader in this assignment, but how could a man lead going backwards ?
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I felt when I came here that I was going backwards .
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Backwards Pretend you are a beginner who has inadvertently forgotten which end of the board is forwards and set sail going backwards .
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He made his way to bed, going backwards up the stairs, making use of his arms and one good leg.
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Blood jetted from his nostrils and Jimmy went backwards over a desk, taking a computer console with him.
lean
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Then she leant backwards so that her back was arched across my chest.
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In figure A the pelvis is pushed forward so that the man is leaning backwards .
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Are you leaning backwards or forwards?
look
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The point of an ending is for the conclusion to look backwards , not to carry the argument backwards.
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Looking at snakes, we seem to be looking backwards in time and deep into our own primal selves.
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Where reductivism is forward-looking, retributivism looks backwards in time, to the offence.
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In this brief look backwards , history has an easy task.
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He looked backwards expecting to see the rear gunner running up the fuselage to report that his gun had jammed.
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There is a massive sub-culture there, looking backwards and it's getting more insidious all the time.
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By definition they do not look backwards at the kinds of demographic transformations with which various societies have already coped.
move
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At any time, we are either learning and developing or moving backwards .
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To get a good purchase, I knelt on the melamine top, moving backwards as I was cutting.
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The second assumption is that the stream can not move backwards on itself, that is, reverse its direction or join itself.
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When hovering, the same input will make the model start to move backwards .
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The locus of failure thereafter moves backwards into the cylinder.
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We can then move backwards or forwards in time.
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Their friend Otto Korn, the physicist, had shown that particles move backwards in time.
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Unless a company is progressing the whole time, it is, in fact, moving backwards .
rock
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Their bodies collided and, momentarily winded, she rocked backwards .
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Belinda stopped in front of them, still drinking her orange juice and rocking backwards and forwards on her heels.
run
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Some might argue that it was running backwards .
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The same device, run backwards , reacts hydrogen and oxygen together to make water and generate electrical power.
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And to cap it all off, when she was tied-up she couldn't run backwards , so she lay down instead!
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To solve this problem, the synapses are run backwards so you can tell how strongly that particular synapse is connected.
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It just seems to me that the film is running backwards .
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For a start, the clock runs backwards from 45 minutes to zero.
stagger
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A flailing chimera of camera crews, photographers and reporters staggers backwards down some city high street.
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Suddenly Dad uttered a sharp cry and staggered backwards , slumping against the wall.
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The captain staggered backwards , tripped over the dropped gun and fell on to the sidewalk.
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With a gasp Chantal staggered backwards , reaching for the chair back to steady herself.
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Her blow connected, and Ma Katz staggered backwards , blade scraping the flower-pattern wallpaper.
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The fist's owner became visible, staggering backwards , clutching the wounded article and uttering cuss words.
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Gunfire rattled against his pectoral shields, and he staggered backwards from the blast.
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The recoil was unexpected and he staggered backwards as Cardiff reached him, not knowing whether he had hit it or not.
step
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The figure stepped backwards into the darkness.
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Startled, Bunny stepped backwards , dragging Meredith with him.
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Oh, the disgusted look on women's faces as they step backwards through a doorway, out of the rain.
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Anne stepped backwards , the train rocking under her feet, making her unsteady.
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Time is like stepping backwards you said tonight, the future's always dark.
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To step backwards into the limbo of the last five years.
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We step backwards towards the car.
stumble
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She stumbled backwards and I darted out of the way as she fell over.
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The old man wobbled and stumbled backwards , wagging his head as if he were trying to shake something out of it.
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A cook from the kitchens took one in the eye and stumbled backwards with his hands pressed to his temples.
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Yukio's face erupting before her, stumbling backwards , a pressure on her elbow.
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The grass blades tore, but their initial resistance sent him stumbling backwards .
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In panic she stumbled backwards , twisted round and tried to run into the living room.
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He stumbled backwards and struck a bed screen that crashed to the floor, bringing him with it.
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As Seawitch rolled heavily Polly's foot slipped on the wet deck and she stumbled backwards , pulling Nathan with her.
topple
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She tried to blink the red mist from her eyes, failed, and toppled backwards out of the image field.
tumble
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They tumbled backwards together in a happy heap.
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Marcus was doubled over and I saw the woman tumbling backwards .
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Cora-Beth's foot had slipped between two of the bales and she had tumbled backwards , dragging Harry down on top of her.
walk
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Then he walked backwards , scraping the gravel with the side of his boot.
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An open-band smash that sent her walking backwards to the stove.
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There were girls who couldn't walk backwards .
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She made them walk backwards and forwards, and then trot.
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To wait for her would be like walking backwards .
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Why am I walking backwards into the house?
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He actually found it easier to walk backwards .
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Both victims then walk backwards into view.
work
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The presence of a particular motive can only be inferred by working backwards from the behaviour itself.
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You can then work backwards to positions that are not relevant.
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He had tried starting in the middle and working backwards .
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Instead, work backwards from the end of the field, using a minus sign.
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Recession, therefore, has the unfortunate and cumulative effect of working backwards .
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As before, the essential trick is working backwards and writing forwards.
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You can then treat the timber by spraying or brushing on two generous coats, working backwards towards the loft hatch.
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And, once again. you will see that you have had to work backwards .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
bend over backwards (to do sth)
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Outside the trees are bending over backwards to please the wind: the shining sword grass flattens on its belly.
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The authors, however, bend over backwards to avoid consideration of that particular class scenario.
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The Gallery is also bending over backwards to boost attendance, and in doing so is rather alarmingly bowing to populist pressures.
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They also needed to stop rationalizing the problem to themselves and bending over backwards to be fair.
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You should bend over backwards to avoid bitter personal rows and the holding of grudges.
look as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Can you say the alphabet backwards ?
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Sarah fell backwards in the snow.
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She gently rocked the baby backwards and forwards.
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Stepping backwards , Harry trod on the foot of the woman behind him.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He was supposed to be the leader in this assignment, but how could a man lead going backwards ?
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I felt when I came here that I was going backwards .
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In practice, the operator jumps forwards and backwards within the pattern indicated on the chart rechecking some decisions and anticipating others.
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Madame Arcati was springing on to tables, falling backwards off stools and dancing eccentric tangos.
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So I push him backwards into the mountain of stinking rubbish, and he sinks down on it.
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The wooden end caught Nogai in the face, and he pitched over backwards .