backwards
Britishadverb
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towards the rear
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with the back foremost
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in the reverse of usual order or direction
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to or towards the past
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into a worse state
the patient was slipping backwards
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towards the point of origin
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informal to make a special effort, esp in order to please
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informal to understand completely
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Growing up gay in an environment where you’re not allowed to be that was very taxing on me," Gigi told the Bringin' It Backwards podcast, in 2022.
From BBC • Nov. 21, 2024
In the Empress’s final supplementary column, readers can choose their favorite Ask Backwards entries from Week 1514, whose results would have run this week.
From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2022
If the term regression feels too academic, we may just as easily call it the Great Leap Backwards.
From Salon • Jul. 6, 2022
His parents, Dale and Floy, were teachers, according to his well-received 2020 book, “Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir.”
From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2022
He had seen the Crawling Backwards Days and his gratitude to Mammachi and her family for all that they had done for him was as wide and deep as a river in spate.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
