backbit

back·bite

[bak-bahyt] verb, back·bit, back·bit·ten or ( Informal ) back·bit; back·bit·ing.
verb (used with object)
1.
to attack the character or reputation of (a person who is not present).
verb (used without object)
2.
to speak unfavorably or slanderously of a person who is not present.

Origin:
1125–75; Middle English; see back1, bite

back·bit·er, noun


1. belittle, disparage, deprecate; slander, libel, defame.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
backbite (ˈbækˌbaɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb , -bites, -biting, -bit, -bitten, -bit
to talk spitefully about (an absent person)
 
'backbiter
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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00:10
Backbit is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Easton
Bible Dictionary

Backbite definition


In Ps. 15:3, the rendering of a word which means to run about tattling, calumniating; in Prov. 25:23, secret talebearing or slandering; in Rom. 1:30 and 2 Cor. 12:20, evil-speaking, maliciously defaming the absent.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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