Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

backblocks

American  
[bak-bloks] / ˈbækˌblɒks /

noun

(used with a plural verb)
  1. the outback.

    They live in the backblocks.


backblocks British  
/ ˈbækˌblɒks /

plural noun

  1. bush or remote farming area far distant from city amenities

"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

Other Word Forms

  • backblock adjective
  • backblocker noun

Etymology

Origin of backblocks

First recorded in 1870–75; back 1 + block + -s 3

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.

I meet Stone on a rehearsal break in the backblocks of Sydney’s Fox studios.

From The Guardian

She began as Vickie Lynn Hogan, a peroxide-blond waitress from the dusty Texas backblocks.

From The Guardian

Along the Ophir River, in the far "backblocks" of Queensland in the '80s, life bravely tried to illustrate Hobbes's definition of man's existence in a state of nature as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."

From Time Magazine Archive

Naturally, throughout the whole of the State of New South Wales, right to the very backblocks, there was an earnest wish on the part of the members of the New South Wales military forces to be in Sydney at the time of the fleet’s visit.

From Project Gutenberg

In this article the paper spoke of backblocks bushmen under the generic soubriquet of Billjim.

From Project Gutenberg