I. ˈbakˌbīt, usu -īd.+V verb
Etymology: Middle English bakbiten, from bak back + biten to bite — more at bite
transitive verb
: to say mean or spiteful things about (one absent) : slander
if a reader does not like what you have written, he backbites you to the editor, but if he is particularly pleased, he writes to you personally — Corra Harris
had all backbitten and double-crossed each other while pretending to work together — Sir Winston Churchill
intransitive verb
: to backbite a person
II. noun
: the act or an instance of backbiting
manipulating a hundred and one strands of gossip and backbite — Eugene Walter