noun
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a person who gives financial or other support
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a person who bets on a competitor or contestant
Etymology
Origin of backer
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.
Inspire could also be targeting a hefty market capitalization as well; private-equity backer Roark Capital has sought a valuation of around $20 billion, according to CNBC.
From MarketWatch • May 8, 2026
In any given year, that might include billionaire venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, who was also an early Tesla and SpaceX backer and longtime Elon Musk ally, or Uber co-founder Garrett Camp.
From Slate • May 8, 2026
The business owner would like to see more investment and support "for the local community", but is also a big backer of a new M4 relief road - "100% for it," he said.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
While Microsoft remains an OpenAI backer, it has worked to develop a level of technological independence from OpenAI as it builds its Copilot assistant.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026
Ever attuned to the ebb and flow of research funding, he recognized that the government stood to become as generous a financial backer as the medical foundations he had mined to build the sixty-inch.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
