I. ˈbakwə(r)d adverb
or back·wards -dz
Etymology: Middle English bakward, bakwardes, from bak back + -ward, -wardes
1.
a. : toward the back or rear
throw the arms out and backward
b. : with the back in advance or foremost
pull a chair backward away from a table
drive backward up a driveway
2.
a. : in the direction from which one came : in a reverse or contrary direction or way
read backward
do things backward
turn a handle backward
the tide ebbs backward toward the sea — John DeMeyer
b. : toward the past
lovers of romance who look fondly backward
c. : in a regressive direction
under his administration the community was not only at a standstill but going backward
: toward an earlier and worse state
moving backward culturally and morally
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English bakward, from bakward, adverb
1.
a. : directed or turned backward
a backward glance
a backward movement of the train
a backward jerk of the arm — Wirt Williams
a backward slant to his handwriting
b. : done or executed backward
a backward twist of a handle
2. archaic : situated or placed toward or in the back or rear
3. : reluctant , diffident , shy
a man hardly backward in asserting himself
a backward suitor
I have been backward to begin my canvass — Edmund Burke
4.
a. : slow to learn or dull of comprehension : mentally retarded
a backward child
b. : holding to outworn or traditional ideas, views, or principles : reactionary , unprogressive
a backward person, imbued with strong and irrational prejudices
c. : in a relatively underdeveloped state especially economically and socially
technological assistance to the backward areas of the world
a backward agrarian country
desires to elevate the more backward portions of the human family — Philip Mason
5. : unsupported by a fellow pawn in chess and not readily movable to a position to be so supported
• back·ward·ly adverb
III. noun
( -s )
: the part behind or past
the dark backward … of time — Shakespeare