backing - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: backing

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

back·ing

Audio Help [bak-ing] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	aid or support of any kind.

2.	supporters or backers collectively.

3.	something that forms the back or is placed at or attached to the back of anything to support, strengthen, or protect it.

4.	Theater. a curtain or flat placed behind a window, entrance, or other opening in a stage set to conceal the offstage area.

5.	material for backing a joist or rafter.

6.	a bevel given to the outer and upper edge of a hip rafter.

7.	the musical accompaniment for a soloist; backup.

[Origin: 1590–1600; back¹ + -ing¹

]

—Synonyms 1. help, assistance, endorsement, sponsorship, sanction, patronage, encouragement.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
backing

To learn more about backing visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

back¹ Audio Help (bāk) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The posterior portion of the trunk of the human body between the neck and the pelvis; the dorsum.
2. The analogous dorsal region in other animals.
3. The part of a book where the pages are stitched or glued together into the binding.
4. The binding itself.
5. A player who takes a position behind the front line of other players in certain games, such as football and soccer.
6. This playing position.
The backbone or spine.
The part or area farthest from the front.
The part opposite to or behind that adapted for view or use: the back of the hand; wrote on the back of the photograph.
The reverse side, as of a coin.
A part that supports or strengthens from the rear: the back of a couch.
1. The part of a book where the pages are stitched or glued together into the binding.
2. The binding itself.
3. A player who takes a position behind the front line of other players in certain games, such as football and soccer.
4. This playing position.
Sports
1. A player who takes a position behind the front line of other players in certain games, such as football and soccer.
2. This playing position.

v. backed, back·ing, backs

v. tr.

To cause to move backward or in a reverse direction: Back the car up and then make the turn.
To furnish or strengthen with a back or backing.
To provide with financial or moral support; support or endorse: Unions backed the pro-labor candidate. See Synonyms at support.
To provide with musical accompaniment. Often used with up.
To bet or wager on.
To adduce evidence in support of; substantiate: backed the argument with facts.
To form the back or background of: Snowcapped mountains back the village.

v. intr.

To move backward: backed out of the garage.
To shift to a counterclockwise direction. Used of the wind.

adj.

Located or placed in the rear: Deliveries should be made at the back entrance.
Distant from a center of activity; remote.
Of a past date; not current: a back issue of a periodical.
Being owed or due from an earlier time; in arrears: back pay.
Being in a backward direction.
Linguistics Pronounced with the back of the tongue, as oo in cool. Used of vowels.

adv.

At, to, or toward the rear or back; backward.
In, to, or toward a former location: went back for the class reunion.
In, to, or toward a former condition.
In, to, or toward a past time.
In reserve or concealment.
In check or under restraint: Barriers held the crowd back.
In reply or return.
To withdraw from something before completion.
To fail to keep a commitment or promise.
To cause to accumulate or undergo accumulation: The accident backed the traffic up for blocks. Traffic backed up in the tunnel.
Computer Science To make a backup of (a program or file).

Phrasal Verb(s):
back away
To withdraw from a position; retreat.
back down
To withdraw from a position, opinion, or commitment.
back off
To retreat or draw away.
back out

To withdraw from something before completion.
To fail to keep a commitment or promise.

back up

To cause to accumulate or undergo accumulation: The accident backed the traffic up for blocks. Traffic backed up in the tunnel.
Computer Science To make a backup of (a program or file).

Idiom(s):
back and fill

Nautical To maneuver a vessel in a narrow channel by adjusting the sails so as to let the wind in and out of them in alteration.
To vacillate in one's actions or decisions.

Idiom(s):
back to back
Consecutively and without interruption: presented three speeches back to back.

Idiom(s):
behind (one's) back
In one's absence or without one's knowledge.

Idiom(s):
have (one's) back up
To be angry or irritated.

Idiom(s):
off (someone's) back
No longer nagging or urging someone to do something.

Idiom(s):
on (someone's) back
Persistently nagging or urging someone to do something.

[Middle English bak, from Old English bæc.]

back'less adj.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

back·ing Audio Help (bāk'ĭng) Pronunciation Key
n.

Something forming a back: the backing of a carpet.
1. Support or aid: financial backing.
2. Approval or endorsement: The President has backing from the farm belt.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

backing
noun
1.	the act of providing approval and support; "his vigorous backing of the conservatives got him in trouble with progressives"
2.	something forming a back that is added for strengthening
3.	financial resources provided to make some project possible; "the foundation provided support for the experiment" [syn: support]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Backing

Back\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Backed; p. pr. & vb. n. Backing.]

1. To get upon the back of; to mount.

I will back him [a horse] straight. --Shak.

2. To place or seat upon the back. [R.]

Great Jupiter, upon his eagle backed, Appeared to me. --Shak.

3. To drive or force backward; to cause to retreat or recede; as, to back oxen.

4. To make a back for; to furnish with a back; as, to back books.

5. To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.

A garden . . . with a vineyard backed. --Shak.

The chalk cliffs which back the beach. --Huxley.

6. To write upon the back of; as, to back a letter; to indorse; as, to back a note or legal document.

7. To support; to maintain; to second or strengthen by aid or influence; as, to back a friend. "Parliament would be backed by the people." --Macaulay.

Have still found it necessary to back and fortify their laws with rewards and punishments. --South.

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 "the 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.

Browse Nearby Entries: