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background

[bak-ground]

noun

the ground or parts, as of a scene, situated in the rear (opposed to foreground).

Fine Arts.

the part of a painted or carved surface against which represented objects and forms are perceived or depicted: a portrait against a purple background.

the part of an image represented as being at maximum distance from the frontal plane.

one's origin, education, experience, etc., in relation to one's present character, status, etc.

the social, historical, and other antecedents or causes of an event or condition: the background of the war.

the complex of physical, cultural, and psychological factors that serves as the environment of an event or experience; the set of conditions against which an occurrence is perceived.

EXPAND

Physics. the totality of effects that tend to obscure a phenomenon under investigation and above which the phenomenon must be detected.

Telecommunications. (in an electronic device for transmitting or receiving signals) the sum of the effects, as noise or random signals, from which a phenomenon must differentiate itself in character or degree in order to be detected.

COLLAPSE

adjective

of, pertaining to, or serving as a background: background noise.

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Background is one of our favorite verbs.

So is skedaddle. Does it mean:

to run away hurriedly; flee.

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used with object)

to supply a background to: The passenger's idle thoughts were backgrounded by the drone of the plane's engines.

10.

to supply a background of information for: To background themselves, reporters dug through all available files on the case.

Idiom

11.

in/into the background, unobtrusive; inconspicuous; out of sight or notice; in or into obscurity: He kept his dishonest dealings in the background.

Origin:
1665–75; back¹ + ground¹

Synonyms
4. environment, circumstances, upbringing, milieu, element, sphere, medium.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To background

Example Sentences

Volunteering and working for an organization that serves children often means consenting to an extensive background check.

More and more employers are doing online background checks on recent college graduates who have applied for jobs.

The hope behind the app is that the idea of finding out about a product's background will become mainstream.

EXPAND

Volunteering and working for an organization that serves children often means consenting to an extensive background check.

More and more employers are doing online background checks on recent college graduates who have applied for jobs.

The hope behind the app is that the idea of finding out about a product's background will become mainstream.

The root of this issue runs deep within the countries moral background.

Imagine an e-book that comes with its own music background and sound effects that play when you read over the appropriate words.

We rolled periwinkle blue latex paint on as our background color for the canvas mats at top.

One of those is that, thanks to its tiny sensor, it can't throw a background out of focus whilst keeping the subject sharp.

College student development background also desired.

For instance, they could set up a system that has a thorough background check for these type of travelers.

Both telescopes observed the cosmic microwave background radiation, the remnant glow of the big bang.

Two polyester-clad cronies kibitz while mannequins gyrate in a storefront window in the background.

His design philosophy is rooted in this international background and is reflected in his geographically varied portfolio.

Then, the layout completely changed to a black background.

Eligibility for employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background screening.

She says that she has long backed someone with a background in spying.

Imagine in frame one a dense array of randomly placed black dots on a gray background.

In the background looms the pastry cook's bulk of the city hall.

H imalayan native useful as screen, background plant.

See if your app lets you change the white background to a shade of cool yellow.

Employment in this position is contingent upon a satisfactory background check.

Asteroids are warmer than the background sky and therefore stand out in the infrared.

The young woman provides a focus for the pic and even though the background is blurred, you still get a sense of the people.

Good against background of evergreens, or for height and contrast above border of rhododendrons and azaleas.

On top of that he wore a gray suit, which blended into the background.

To continually support organizational excellence, the university conducts background screens on applicants.

Here are stories about the event and background on earthquake science.

Understanding the significance of the newly-described dinosaur requires a little background information.

Magnificent in large borders against background of dark green foliage, wall, or solid fence.

In the background is the incongruous yet constant beat of a percussion section on the building's roof.

The fountain's spherical shape is echoed by a trio of orbs carefully placed on the deck in the background.

The successful candidate is subject to a criminal and financial background check.

During rest of growing season, medium green, rounded leaves with pointed tips blends well with other background shrubs.

Offers of employment are contingent upon a successful background check.

Fine lawn tree, good background plant, outstanding clipped hedge.

University trustees are generally drawn from a business background and are accustomed to corporate plans.

Locate plants against a dark background to show off flowers, form, fall color.

But they do require some demonstrated background in military or diplomatic history.

Here is the background music you should play while reading this post.

Go early on a weekday if you want to take pictures without people in the background.

Not sure what her hort background was, but she was a good librarian.

Good under oaks, as background for ferns and azaleas, alongside pools.

Good in perennial borders or at edge of woodland against a dark background.

Use it as a bank cover, hedge, or background planting add to my plant list.

Good background tree for native shrubs and wildflowers.

Effective against background of dark green shrubs or at end of pool where graceful form can be displayed.

Choose a site where it can be shown off against dark background or sky.

Use it as a bank cover, hedge, or background planting.

Use along sunny fence or as background for flowers or other vegetables.

But this is often sheared into formal shapes and hedges, making a common background or screen plant.

Easy care and extremely long flowering season make it a good filler, background plant, or low screen.

Here, black fades into the background and relates to the chair rail," he says.

Change the background and cuttings for a new look each season.

BuildFax offers building background reports that may help buyers negotiate a better purchase price.

Against a background of a faltering economy and stockmarket, there have been odd stirrings among a shunned group of shares.

Choose a background lacking in specular highlights.

The only reason that there is a cosmic microwave background rather than a cosmic orange background is redshift.

Background information and writing credentials are helpful.

But solitary confinement is in the background of all this.

I've been on several campus visits in different states where the school asked me to fill out a criminal background check form.

The successful candidate will combine a strong technical background with the ability to write simply.

By emitting multiple sonar frequencies, big brown bats are able to distinguish the insects they eat from background clutter.

Many of the photographs have timer clocks in the background.

Although some of the symbols on the periodic table may seem strange, they all make sense with a little background information.

However, you can also look at the motion of the background to show it is fake.

Employment will require a successful criminal background check.

Langley was no harebrained dreamer, but a serious scholar with a background in mathematics, architecture and astronomy.

On-board cameras sweep the area to pick up the background scenery and display that infra-red signature on the vehicle.

Preference will be given to applicants with a background in the physical sciences.

It takes a little bit of background knowledge to understand why this is so shocking.

Such events are a background to the search for microscopic black holes.

Applicants are subject to a criminal background check.

Rossetti filled the background of the picture with sprays of white roses.

He also has a strong background in computer crime issues.

No such pulse had been recorded from natural background radiation in test runs conducted for many days prior to the experiment.

He is successful financially, with perhaps an inheritance as a solid background.

Lam gets a little caught up in the fact that video gamers don't actually control the character, but the background.

Successful completion of an employment and/or criminal history background check required.

Yamabuki ogon swimming in front of a white background.

Change the background and cuttings for a new look any time you like.

Some sites provide audio interview clips, detailed family health background information and even.

All offers of employment are contingent on completion of a satisfactory background check.

My background is in math and computer science, as an undergraduate degree, and then.

Apprentice painters would apply background color and decorations, while faces and hands were reserved for master painters.

While a solid background in electronics is helpful, it's not always an absolute requirement.

Background checks will be conducted on the final candidates.

They range as some fuzzy blend of the original yellow with the background.

And you have to make food for everybody eating in the background at all of these restaurants in a scene.

Successful finalists must consent to and successfully complete a criminal background check.

Here he answers four more questions for readers about his own background and agriculture in the developing world.

But the idea itself came out of my religious background and my interest in science.

Final selection will be based upon a successful interview and background check.

We expect it to be in the background and not to interfere with our wishes and activities.

Understanding teen brain immaturity against the background of rising hormones is changing education and legal practice.

Employment is subject to successful completion of a security background check.

Take into account the amounts of background radiation from various parts of the world--all the time:.

If you want to dramatize the moment with sound, that's what the background music is for.

All positions are subject to a criminal background check.

The background color is not showing the diamond to its best advantage either.

Satisfactory reference and background checks are a condition of employment.

The blue of the background is causing the blue of the diamond to fade into the background.

Such a tree is a better candidate for a background area, where the litter can remain where.

However, the background does not have pillars in itbut is certainly by the same artist that you are looking for.

It makes a splendid background for bright flowers of other plants and is tough enough to use as a bank or berm cover.

It was nice to have some background and history about the operetta.

Employment offers will be conditioned upon successful completion of a criminal background check.

It has a redish orange color background with a white border.

Those holding an earned doctorate and having a background in higher education administration are preferred.

Not sure why anyone with a scientific background would scoff at the idea of a large lauropod taking occasional animal prey.

Either way, tea makes a delicate background for berries, honey.

Mah believes his unique background allows him to provide the bigger picture in echinoderm biology to his readers.

In less windy places, use as a tall screen or background plant.

Build background on how scientists learn about weather on other planets.

Like the sounds of a crying child on an airplane, partisan bickering has become unavoidable background noise.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

background (ˈbækˌɡraʊnd)

—n
1.	the part of a scene or view furthest from the viewer
2.	a. an inconspicuous or unobtrusive position (esp in the phrase in the background)
	b. (as modifier): a background influence
3.	art
	a. the plane or ground in a picture upon which all other planes or forms appear superimposed
	b. foreground Compare middle-distance the parts of a picture that appear most distant
4.	a person's social class, education, training, or experience
5.	a. the social, historical, or technical circumstances that lead up to or help to explain something: the background to the French Revolution
	b. (as modifier): background information
6.	a. a low level of sound, lighting, etc, whose purpose is to be an unobtrusive or appropriate accompaniment to something else, such as a social activity, conversation, or the action of a film
	b. (as modifier): background music
7.	physics Also called: background radiation low-intensity radiation as, for example, from small amounts of radioisotopes in soil, air, building materials, etc
8.	electronics
	a. unwanted effects, such as noise, occurring in a measuring instrument, electronic device, etc
	b. (as modifier): background interference

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

background

1670s, from back (adj.) + ground; original sense was theatrical, later applied to painting. Figurative sense is first attested 1854.

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

background definition

1. A task running in the background (a background task) is detached from the terminal where it was started (and often running at a lower priority); opposite of foreground. This means that the task's input and output must be from/to files (or other processes).
Nowadays this term is primarily associated with Unix, but it appears to have been first used in this sense on OS/360.
Compare amp off, batch, slopsucker.
2. For a human to do a task "in the background" is to do it whenever foreground matters are not claiming your undivided attention, and "to background" something means to relegate it to a lower priority. "For now, we'll just print a list of nodes and links; I'm working on the graph-printing problem in the background." Note that this implies ongoing activity but at a reduced level or in spare time, in contrast to mainstream "back burner" (which connotes benign neglect until some future resumption of activity). Some people prefer to use the term for processing that they have queued up for their unconscious minds (often a fruitful tack to take upon encountering an obstacle in creative work).
(1996-05-28)

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"One of the strengths I derive from my class background is that I am accustomed to contempt."

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background definition