back number

noun

1. an out-of-date issue of a serial publication.

2. Informal.,  anything out-of-date.

back number

noun

1. an issue of a newspaper, magazine, etc, that appeared on a previous date

2. informal,  a person or thing considered to be old-fashioned

Word History and Origins

Origin of back number¹

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Idioms and Phrases

Dated, out of style. For example, That hat is really a back number, or The game has changed so fast that a player who returns to the circuit after several years' absence usually finds he or she is a back number. This term originally referred to back issues of periodicals, which are no longer newsworthy. [Late 1800s]

Related Words

• age-old 
• antique 
• archaic 
• hoary 
• old-fashioned 
• timeworn 
• venerable