back of
Also, at the back of; in back of. Behind; also, supporting. For example, The special brands were stored back of the counter, or “Franklin stood back of me in everything I wanted to do” (Eleanor Roosevelt, quoted by Catherine Drinker Bowen, Atlantic Monthly, March 1970). The first term, dating from the late 1600s, was long criticized as an undesirable colloquialism but today is generally considered acceptable. The variants, at the back of, from about 1400, and in back of, from the early 1900s, also can be used both literally and figuratively and could be substituted for back of in either example. Also see back of beyond.
Words Nearby back of
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use back of in a sentence
And, as the documentary illuminated, she worked, worked, worked—even if it meant going to the back-of-beyond venues.
“She has a very low back-of-throat tone that not atypical of rock-pop singers,” Purdy says.
His bassy, back-of-the-throat syllables are straighter and sexier; his yowls are more pointed and pained.
Does it make a difference if Jefferson was opening up his own account books or just making a back-of-the-envelope calculation?
What Did Thomas Jefferson Really Think About Slavery? | Jan Ellen Lewis | October 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThis is the sort of back-of-the-hand campaigning that comes easily to the former House speaker but is more labored for Romney.
You've been having high old times in that back-of-beyond town of yours, haven't you?
The Borough Treasurer | Joseph Smith Fletcher
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