Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages). Noah Webster
1. Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance,
as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.
2. (Paint.) The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures.
µ The distance in a picture is usually divided into foreground, middle distance, and background.
Fairholt.
3. Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings.
4. A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.
I fancy there was a background of grinding and waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly finished … performance.
Mrs.Alexander.
A husband somewhere in the background.
Thackeray.
Back¶hand· (?), n. [Back, adv. + ÿhand.] A kind of handwriting in which the downward slope of the letters is from left to right.
Back¶hand·, a. 1. Sloping from left to right; - said of handwriting.
2. Backhanded; indirect; oblique. [R.]
Back¶hand·ed, a. 1. With the hand turned backward; as, a ÿbackhanded blow.
2. Indirect; awkward; insincere; sarcastic; as, a ÿbackhandedÿ compliment.
3.Turned back, or inclining to the left; as, a backhanded letters.
Back¶hand·edÏness, n. State of being backhanded; the using of backhanded or indirect methods.
Back¶hand·er (?), n. A backhanded blow.
Back¶house· (?), n. [ÿBack, a. + house.] A building behind the main building. Specifically: A privy; a necessary.
Back¶ing, n. 1. The act of moving backward, or of putting or moving anything backward.
2. That which is behind, and forms the back of, anything, usually giving strength or stability.
3. Support or aid given to a person or cause.
4. (Bookbinding) The preparation of the back of a book with glue, etc., before putting on the cover.
Back¶joint· (?), n. [Backÿ, a. or adv. + joint.] (a) A rebate or chase in masonry left to receive a permanent slab or other filling.
Back¶lash· (?), n. [ÿBackÿ, adv. + lash.] (Mech.) The distance through which one part of connected machinery, as a wheel, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, resulting from looseness in fitting or from wear; also, the jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.
Back¶less, a. Without a back.
Back¶log·(?), n. [ÿBack, a. + log.] A large stick of wood, forming the of a fire on the hearth. [U.S.]
There was first a backlog, from fifteen to four and twenty inches in diameter and five feet long, imbedded in the ashes.
S.G. Goodrich.
Back¶piece· (?), Back¶plate· (?),} n. [ÿBack, n. or a. + ÿpiece, plate.ÿ] A piece, or plate which forms the back of anything, or which covers the back; armor for the back.
<—p. 111—>
Back¶rack (?), Back¶rag (?),} n. See Bacharach.
Backs (?), n. pl. Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
Back¶saw· (?), n. [2d back,n.+ saw.] A saw (as a tenon saw) whose blade is stiffened by an added metallic back.
Back¶set· (?), n. [ÿBack, adv. + ÿset.] 1. A check; a relapse; a discouragement; a setback.
2. Whatever is thrown back in its course, as water.
Slackwater, or the ÿbackset caused by the overflow.
Harper's Mag.
Back¶set·, v.i. To plow again, in the fall; - said of prairie land broken up in the spring. [Western U.S.]
Back¶set¶tler (?), n. [Back, a. + settler.] One living in the back or outlying districts of a community.
The English backsettlers of Leinster and Munster.
Macaulay.
ØBack¶sheesh·, ØBack¶shish·} (?), n. [Pers.ÿbakhshÆsh, fr. ÿbakhshÆdan to give.] In Egypt and the Turkish empire, a gratuity; a ½tip¸.
Back¶side· (?), n. [ÿBack, a. + side.ÿ] The hinder part, posteriors, or rump of a person or animal.
µBackside (one word) was formerly used of the
rear part or side of any thing or place, but in such senses is now two words.
Back¶sight· (?), n. [Back, adv. + sight.ÿ] (Surv.) The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight,ÿn., 3.
Back·slide¶ (?), v.i. [ imp. Backslidÿ(?); p.p. Backslidden (?), Backslid; p.pr.&vb.n. ÿBacksliding.ÿ] [Backÿ, adv.+ slide.] To slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.
Back¶slid¶er (?), n. One who backslides.
Back¶slid¶ing, a. Slipping back; falling back into sin or error; sinning.
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord.
Jer. iii. 14.
Back¶slid¶ing, n. The act of one who backslides; abandonment of faith or duty.
Our backslidings are many.
Jer. xiv.7.
Back¶staff· (?), n. An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the heavenly bodies, but now superseded by the quadrant and sextant; - so called because the observer turned his back to the body observed.
Back¶ stairs·. Stairs in the back part of a house, as distinguished from the front stairs; hence, a private or indirect way.
Back¶stairs·, Back¶stair·, a. Private; indirect; secret; intriguing; as if finding access by the back stairs.
A backstairs influence.
Burke.
Female caprice and ÿbackstairs influence.
Trevelyan.
Back¶stay· (?), n. [ÿBack, a. or n. + stay.] 1.(Naut.) A rope or stay extending from the masthead to the side of a ship, slanting a little aft, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast. [ Often used in the plural.]
2. A rope or strap used to prevent excessive forward motion.
Back¶ster (?), n. [See Baxter.] A backer. [Obs.]
Back¶stitch· (?), n. [ÿBack, adv. + ÿstitch.] A stitch made by setting the needle back of the end of the last stitch, and bringing it out in front of the end.
Back¶stitch·, v.i. To sew with backstitches; as, to backstitch a seam.
Back¶stress (?), n. A female baker. [Obs.]
Back¶sword· (?), n. [2d back, n. + sword.] 1. A sword with one sharp edge.
2. In England, a stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements; also, the game in which the stick is used. Also called ÿsinglestick.
Halliwell.
Back¶ward (?), Back¶wards (?),} adv. [ÿBack, ÿadv. + Ïward.] 1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward.
2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms ÿbackward.
3. On the back, or with the back downward.
Thou wilt fall ÿbackward.ÿ
Shak.
4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago.
Some reigns ÿbackward. ÿ
Locke.
5. By way of reflection; reflexively.
Sir