backlight

[ bak-lahyt ]

/ ˈbækˌlaɪt /

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noun

Movies, Television. a light source placed behind an actor, object, or scene to create a highlight that separates the subject from the background: Put a backlight on that rain to make it more visible in this evening shot.

Electronics. the light source, often LED arrays, behind the screen of a flat-panel electronic display, as a television, computer monitor, or smartphone: A full-array LED backlight gives the picture a deeper color range than an edge-lit screen would.

verb (used with object), back·light·ed or back·lit, back·light·ing.

to illuminate from behind: One of the wedding photos is just a silhouette of the couple backlighted by the sunset on the beach.The hallway lamp backlit Mom when she cracked our bedroom door to check on us and whisper goodnight.

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Origin of backlight

First recorded in 1950–55; back¹ + light¹

How to use backlight in a sentence

Think back to the Bush-Kerry race of 2004, the Thrilla in Vanilla.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Back in New York, the slow pace and inward focus of her yoga practice was less fulfilling.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Music is a huge part of the tone of Black Dynamite overall—going back to the original 2009 movie on which the series is based.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The al Qaeda-linked gunmen shot back, but only managed to injure one officer before they were taken out.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

So, Islamized teaching sends girls back home for marriage and housework, and remains exclusively for boys.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I waited three months more, in great impatience, then sent him back to the same post, to see if there might be a reply.
The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman
Ages back—let musty geologists tell us how long ago—'twas a lake, larger than the Lake of Geneva.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
The boys were tumbling about, clinging to his legs, imploring that numerous things be brought back to them.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
With a suffocating gasp, she fell back into the chair on which she sat, and covered her face with her hands.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
Behold a dumpy, comfortable British paterfamilias in a light flannel suit and a faded sun hat.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford

British Dictionary definitions for backlight

back light

noun

light falling on a photographic or television subject from the rear

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