English English Dictionary

English English Dictionary

The online English-English dictionary from The Project Gutenberg

Dictionary
Backward (a.)
Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension; dull; inapt; as, a backward child.
Backward (a.)
Directed to the back or rear; as, backward glances.
Backward (adv.)
Alt. of Backwards
The seller's postponement of delivery of stock or shares, with the consent of the buyer, upon payment of a premium to the latter; -- also, the premium so paid. See Contango.
Backwardly (adv.)
Reluctantly; slowly; aversely.
Backwardly (adv.)
Perversely; ill.
The state of being backward.
Backwards (adv.)
From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin.
Backwards (adv.)
By way of reflection; reflexively.
Backwards (adv.)
Toward, or in, past time or events; ago.
Backwards (adv.)
On the back, or with the back downward.
Backwards (adv.)
Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward.
Backwards (adv.)
With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward.
Backwards (adv.)
In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards.
Backwash (v. i.)
To clean the oil from (wood) after combing.
Backwater (n.)
Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current , or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar.
Backwater (n.)
Water thrown back by the turning of a waterwheel, or by the paddle wheels of a steamer.
Backwater (n.)
An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction.
Backwoods (n. pl.)
The forests or partly cleared grounds on the frontiers.
A man living in the forest in or beyond the new settlements, especially on the western frontiers of the older portions of the United States.