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English

backs

/bæks/ · noun

Meaning

  1. The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
  2. That which is farthest away from the front.
  3. Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back.
  4. A support or resource in reserve.
  5. The keel and keelson of a ship.
  6. The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
  7. To go in the reverse direction.
  8. To support.
  9. (of the wind) To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
  10. (of a square sail) To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
  11. (of an anchor) To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
  12. (of a hunting dog) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.
  13. 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.
  14. A ferryboat.

Etymology / origin

No prose etymology has been added yet.

No ancestor words have been linked yet.

Related words

Descendant words

No descendant words have been linked yet.

Sources

  1. DictionaryAPI.dev English dictionary data
backs — meaning and etymology | WikiWord