rearward

American  

[reer-werd, reer-wawrd] / ˈrɪər wərd, ˈrɪər wɔrd /

adverb

1. Also rearwards. toward or in the rear.

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adjective

1. located in, near, or toward the rear.

2. directed toward the rear.

noun

1. a position at the rear.

   in the rearward of fashion.

2. null rereward the rear division of a military unit; rear guard.

rearward British  

/ ˈrɪəwəd /

adjective

1. Also (for adverb only): rearwards.  towards or in the rear

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noun

1. a position in the rear, esp the rear division of a military formation

Other Word Forms

• rearwardness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of rearward

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rerewarde, from Anglo-French. See rear ¹, -ward

Example Sentences

Rearward, three or four horses, exhausted, were being gathered up by a burly sergeant, and with their weary riders led slowly along the trail.

From A Trooper Galahad by King, Charles

Old Tommy had become so thin that he dared not venture to the top of the hill above his native village of Rearward on a windy day.

From Tales from Bohemia by Stephens, Robert Neilson

Then twelve of them were as it were our Vanguard, other twelve, our Rearward.

From Sir Francis Drake Revived by Nichols, Philip

Rearward on the high-altar is a fine painting by an unknown artist of the Italian school.

From The Cathedrals of Southern France by Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)

They laid his body beside that which had once been his wife in Rearward cemetery.

From Tales from Bohemia by Stephens, Robert Neilson

Related Words

• rearwards