back
/bæk/ verb B1- To go in the reverse direction. · The train backed into the station.· The horse refuses to back.
- To support. · I back you all the way.· Which horse are you backing in this race?
- To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
- To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
- To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
- To push or force backwards. · to back oxen· The mugger backed her into a corner and demanded her wallet.
- To make a back for; to furnish with a back. · to back books
- To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
He/she/it backs · Past backed · Past participle backed · -ing form backing
Verb forms
- Base form
- back
- He/she/it
- backs
- Past
- backed
- Past participle
- backed
- -ing form
- backing
Phrasal verbs and expressions
- back away To move in a direction opposite to that which one is faci...
- back down To take a less aggressive position in a conflict than one...
- back in To reverse a vehicle into a space.
- back into To advance to the post-season as a result of another team...
- back off To move backwards away from something.
- back onto To reverse a vehicle onto something.
- back out To reverse (a vehicle) from a confined space.
- back over To reverse a vehicle over; to trample something while rev...
- back up To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so.
From the library
The Scarecrow went sorrowfully back to his friends and told them what Oz had said; and Dorothy was surprised to find that the Great Wizard was not a Head, as she had seen him, but a lovely Lady.
She left Dorothy alone and went back to the others.
“Then the murderer, or whoever it was, first took off this ring you call the nugget ring, then the wedding ring, and afterwards put the nugget ring back again.”
“Father,” said Mercédès, stopping when she had reached the centre of the table, “sit, I pray you, on my right hand; on my left I will place him who has ever been as a brother to me,” pointing with a soft and gentle smile to Fernand; but her words and look seemed to inflict the direst torture on him, for his lips became ghastly pale, and even beneath the dark hue of his complexion the blood might be seen retreating as though some sudden pang drove it back to the heart.
Other matches
- back The rear of the body, especially the part betwe... A1
- back To or in a previous condition or place. A1
- back At or near the rear. A2
- back A large shallow vat C2
- back away To move in a direction opposite to that which o...
- back down To take a less aggressive position in a conflic...
- back in To reverse a vehicle into a space.
- back into To advance to the post-season as a result of an...
Learn back in real texts
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