Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages). Noah Webster
The mate backed the captain manfully.
Blackw. Mag.
8. To bet on the success of; - as, to back a race horse.
To back an anchor (Naut.), to lay down a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one. - To back the field, in horse racing, to bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated ½the field¸, will win. - To back the oars, to row backward with the oars. - To back a rope, to put on a preventer. - To back the sails, to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern. - To back up, to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends. - To back a warrant (Law), is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender. - To back water (Naut.), to reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward.}
Back, v.i. 1. To move or go backward; as, the horse refuses to back.
2. (Naut.) To change from one quarter to another by a course opposite to that of the sun; - used of the wind.
3. (Sporting) To stand still behind another dog which
has pomted; - said of a dog. [Eng.]
To back and fill, to manage the sails of a ship so that the wind strikes them alternately in front and behind, in order to keep the ship in the middle of a river or channel while the current or tide carries the vessel against the wind. Hence: (Fig.) To take opposite positions alternately; to assert and deny. [Colloq.] - To back out, To back down, to retreat or withdraw from a promise, engagement, or contest; to recede. [Colloq.]
Cleon at first … was willing to go; but, finding that he [Nicias] was in earnest, he tried to ÿback out.
Jowett (Thucyd.)
Back, adv. [Shortened from aback.] 1. In, to, or toward, the rear; as, to stand back; to step ÿback.
2. To the place from which one came; to the place or person from which something is taken or derived; as, to go back for something left behind; to go ÿback to one's native place; to put a book back after reading it.
3. To a former state, condition, or station; as, to go back to private life; to go back to barbarism.
4. ( Of time) In times past; ago. ½Sixty or seventy years back.¸
Gladstone.
5. Away from contact; by reverse movement.
The angel of the Lord … came, and rolled back the stone from the door.
Matt. xxvii.2.
6. In concealment or reserve; in one's own possession; as, to keep ÿback the truth; to keep back part of the money due to another.
7. In a state of restraint or hindrance.
The Lord hath kept thee back from honor.
Numb. xxiv.11.
8. In return, repayment, or requital.
What have I to give you ÿback!
Shak.
9. In withdrawal from a statement, promise, or undertaking; as, he took back0 the offensive words.
10. In arrear; as, to be back in one's rent. [Colloq.]
Back and forth, backwards and forwards; to and fro. - To go back on, to turn back from; to abandon; to betray;as, to go back on a friend; to go back on one's professions. [Colloq.]
Bac¶aÏrack (?), n. See Bacharach.
BacÏka¶re (?), interj. Same as Baccare.
Back¶band· (?),n. [2nd backÿ, n. + band.] (Saddlery) The band which passes over the back of a horse and holds up the shafts of a carriage.
Back¶bite·, v.i. [2nd back, n., + bite] To wound by clandestine detraction; to censure meanly or spitefully (as absent person); to slander or speak evil of (one absent).
Spenser.
Back¶bite·, v.i. To censure or revile the absent.
They are arrant knaves, and will ÿbackbite.
Shak.
Back¶bit·er (?), n. One who backbites; a secret calumniator or detractor.
Back¶bit·ing (?), n. Secret slander; detraction.
Backbiting, and bearing of false witness.
Piers Plowman.
Back¶board· (?), n. [2nd ÿbackÿ,n. + board.]
1. A board which supports the back wen one is sitting;
specifically, the board athwart the after part of a boat.
2. A board serving as the back part of anything, as of a wagon.
3. A thin stuff used for the backs of framed pictures, mirrors, etc.
4. A board attached to the rim of a water wheel to prevent the water from running off the floats or paddies into the interior of the wheel.
W.Nicholson.
5. A board worn across the back to give erectness to the figure.
Thackeray.
Back¶bond· (?), n. [Back, adv. + ÿbond.] (Scots Law) An instrument which, in conjunction with another making an absolute disposition, constitutes a trust.
Back¶bone¶, n. [2d back, n. + bone.ÿ]
1. The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal column.
2. Anything like , or serving the purpose of, a backbone.
The lofty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country.
Darwin.
We have now come to the backbone of our subject.
Earle.
3. Firmness; moral principle; steadfastness.
Shelley's thought never had any ÿbackbone.
Shairp.
To the backbone, through and through; thoroughly; entirely. ½Staunch to ÿthe backbone.¸
Lord Lytton.
Back¶boned¶ (?), a. Vertebrate.
Back¶cast· (?), n. [ Back, adv.+ ÿcast.] Anything which brings misfortune upon one, or causes failure in an effort or enterprise; a reverse. [Scot.]
Back¶ door¶ (?). A door in the back part of a building; hence, an indirect way.
Atterbury.
Back¶door¶, a. Acting from behind and in concealment; as backdoor intrigues.
Back¶down· (?), n. A receding or giving up; a complete surrender. [Colloq.]
Backed (?), a. Having a back; fitted with a back; as, a backed electrotype or stereotype plate. Used in composition; as, broad-ÿbacked; hump-backed.
Back¶er (?), n. One who, or that which, backs; especially one who backs a person or thing in a contest.
Back¶fall· (?), n. [2nd back ,n. + fall] A fall or throw on the back in wrestling.
Back¶friend· (?), n. [Back, n. or adv. + friend] A secret enemy. [Obs.]
South.
Back¶gam·mon (?), n. [ Origin unknown; perhaps fr.Dan. bakke tray + E.ÿgame; or very likely the first part is from E.back, adv., and the game is so called because the men are often set back.] A game of chance and skill, played by two persons on a ½board¸ marked off into twenty-four spaces called ½points¸. Each player has fifteen pieces, or ½men¸, the movements of which from point to point are determined by throwing dice. Formerly called ÿtables.
Backgammon board , a board for playing backgammon, often made in the form of two rectangular trays hinged together, each tray containing two ½tables¸.
Back¶gam·mon, v.i. In the game of backgammon, to beat by ending the game before the loser is clear of his first ½table¸.