backlash
[bak-lash]
- a sudden, forceful backward movement; recoil.
- a strong or violent reaction, as to some social or political change: a backlash of angry feeling among Southern conservatives within the party.
- Machinery.
- the space between the thickness of a gear tooth and the width of the space between teeth in the mating gear, designed to allow for a film of lubricant, binding from heat expansion and eccentricity, or manufacturing inaccuracies.
- play or lost motion between loosely fitting machine parts.
- Angling. a snarled line on a reel, usually caused by a faulty cast.
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- to make or undergo a backlash.
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Origin of backlash
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for backlashed
fail, flop, bump, rebound, bound, ricochet, jump, leap, hop, carom, recoil, disappoint, boomerang, miscarry, backlash, return, reverse, react, buck, jounceExamples from the Web for backlashed
Historical Examples of backlashed
It was though his fingers carried a galvanic current that backlashed up his arm even as it stiffened hers.
The Lani PeopleJ. F. Bone
backlash
- a reaction or recoil between interacting worn or badly fitting parts in a mechanism
- the play between parts
- a sudden and adverse reaction, esp to a political or social developmenta public backlash against the government is inevitable
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for backlashed
backlash
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper