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

Backwardation (n.)

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.

Backwardness (n.)

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.

Backwoodsman (n.)

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.