backlog

[ bak-lawg, -log ]

/ ˈbækˌlɔg, -ˌlɒg /

noun

a reserve or accumulation, as of stock, work, or business: a backlog of business orders.

a large log at the back of a hearth to keep up a fire.Compare forestick.

verb (used with object), back·logged, back·log·ging.

to hold in reserve, as for future handling or repair.

to enter and acknowledge (an order) for future shipment.

verb (used without object), back·logged, back·log·ging.

to accumulate in a backlog: Orders are starting to backlog faster than we can process them.

Nearby words

Origin of backlog

First recorded in 1675–85; back¹ + log¹

SYNONYMS FOR backlog

1. supply, stock, store, fund, cache, reservoir.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for backlogged

Over 1,000 Iraqis were backlogged – waiting for months or even years, stuck in various stages of the process.
Obama Went to War to Save Them, But They Can’t Get U.S. Visas|Christine van den Toorn, Sherizaan Minwalla|September 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After 9/11, applications surged and backlogged processing for at times up to a year.
How Did He Get Clearance?|Miranda Green|June 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Federal courthouses are backlogged and stuffed to the gills as it is.
The Biggest Lie of All|Michael Tomasky|August 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, the total number of backlogged cases actually grew.
Supreme Court Immigration Ruling in Arizona v. U.S. Got It Backward|Robert M. Morgenthau|July 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for backlogged

backlog

/ (ˈbækˌlɒɡ) /

noun

an accumulation of uncompleted work, unsold stock, etc, to be dealt with

mainly US and Canadian a large log at the back of a fireplace

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

Word Origin and History for backlogged

backlog

1680s, "large log placed at the back of a fire," from back (adj.) + log (n.1). Figurative sense of "something stored up for later use" is first attested 1883, but this and the meaning "arrears of unfulfilled orders" (1932) might be from, or suggested by, log (n.2).