backup
a person or thing that supports or reinforces another.
a musician or singer or group of musicians or singers accompanying a soloist: a singer with a three-man backup that plays cello, bass, and guitar.
an overflow or accumulation due to stoppage, malfunctioning, etc.: a sewage backup; a backup of cars at the tollbooth.
a person, plan, device, etc., kept in reserve to serve as a substitute, if needed.
Computers.
a copy or duplicate version, especially of a file, program, or entire computer system, retained for use in the event that the original is in some way rendered unusable.
a procedure to follow in such an event.
Bowling. a ball that curves in a direction corresponding to the bowling hand of the bowler.
(of a person, plan, device, etc.) held in reserve as a substitute if needed: a backup driver; a backup generator.
performing a secondary or supporting function: A drummer and guitarist are the singer's backup musicians.
Origin of backup
1usage note For backup
Words that may be confused with backup
- back up, backup
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use backup in a sentence
Until now your hard drive has been your primary storage vault, and the Internet was just for backups.
If the regime suddenly clamped down on the major sites, the Brothers want backups.
Screw it up and there are consequences: sewage backups, ruined carpets, flooding.
I can send all the backups and my computer to your office right now.
Makers | Cory DoctorowAnd there are backups in my office, so you need to come and get those, too.
Makers | Cory Doctorow
British Dictionary definitions for back up
(tr) to support or assist
(intr) cricket (of a nonstriking batsman) to move down the wicket in readiness for a run as a ball is bowled
(of water) to accumulate
(of traffic) to become jammed behind an accident or other obstruction
computing to make a copy of (a data file), esp for storage in another place as a security copy
printing to print the second side of (a sheet)
(intr, usually foll by on) Australian to repeat an action immediately
a support or reinforcement
a reserve or substitute
(as modifier): backup troops
US and Canadian
musical accompaniment, esp for a pop singer
(as modifier): backup singer
the overflow from a blocked drain or pipe
computing a file or set of files copied for security purposes
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with backup
Move or drive a vehicle backward, as in He told her to back up into the garage. [First half of 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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