backpack
Americannoun
-
backpacks
plural
verb (used without object)
-
backpacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
backpacked,
past participle, past
-
backpacking
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
backpacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
backpacked,
past participle, past
-
backpacking
present participle
noun
-
a rucksack or knapsack
-
a pack carried on the back of an astronaut, containing oxygen cylinders, essential supplies, etc
verb
-
(intr) to travel about or go hiking with a backpack
-
(tr) to transport (food or equipment) by backpack
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
backpacksimple
-
backpackssimple
-
have backpackedperfect
-
has backpackedperfect
-
am backpackingprogressive
-
are backpackingprogressive
-
is backpackingprogressive
-
have been backpackingperfect progressive
-
has been backpackingperfect progressive
Past
-
backpackedsimple
-
had backpackedperfect
-
was backpackingprogressive
-
were backpackingprogressive
-
had been backpackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of backpack
Explanation
A backpack is a bag you wear on your back, with straps over your shoulders. Lots of kids carry their books to school in a backpack. A hiker might carry a heavy backpack for miles, with food and a folded tent inside, while a kindergartner's backpack will be much smaller, and may have a cartoon character on it. You can also call this portable kind of bag a rucksack. If you hike with a backpack, you go backpacking, and you can call yourself a backpacker. The word's been around since the earliest 20th century.
Vocabulary lists containing backpack
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.
See Examples For:
One man pushed past me with a backpack, shouting agitatedly about fried chicken.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
The department had previously released images and video of the suspect wearing a white mask, a blue backpack and black clothing to try to identify the man.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
To get by, parents are searching their local back-to-school fairs for supplies, or seeking out backpack giveaways and school supply distributions.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
The defence succeeded in excluding some items - a gun magazine, cell phone, passport, wallet and computer chip, found in Mangione's backpack.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
I adjust my backpack and lean on the doorframe, uncertain of what I should do.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
It’s church bells; bunk beds in 15-euro hostels; and some grand cities but also lots of tiny towns that exist because people with backpacks keep arriving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The 24-foot trailer was packed and ready: sleeping bags, towels, backpacks and other items needed for a free four-day summer camping trip for children of incarcerated parents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Some napped on a beach with their faces shielded from the sun by plastic bags or T-shirts, while others rested with backpacks tucked beneath their heads.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Texas: Most clothing, shoes, school supplies and backpacks under $100 are tax-free Aug. 7-9.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Which she simply dropped on top of our backpacks by the door without saying a word.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
This generation, who as young adults hitchhiked across the country and backpacked through Europe, now is going on safaris and hiking in the Serengeti on guided tours that offer “easy” as well as “challenging” options.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Culturally curious, she has traveled, lived and worked overseas, as well as backpacked solo in Australia for five weeks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2023
“I’m so happy to be back,” said Monica Macri, as she led her line of energetic, masked and backpacked fourth-graders toward their designated school entrance.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2021
She later worked on a fishing boat and in a cannery in Alaska, backpacked in Europe and finally went home to get an undergraduate degree in journalism while attending hotel school.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2019
Some ding-dongs believe me, though, and when that happens, I keep the lie going, spinning it until I run out of ideas: I backpacked through France, Germany, and Spain with my rich aunt from Barcelona.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
In a season when rock climbing, backpacking and shooting the rapids are popular, maybe our reading would benefit from going big.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Simone White, 28, from Orpington, south-east London, was one of a number of people taken to hospital when she had been staying in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
Several are backpacking sites and do not offer potable water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
These campgrounds are considered “moderate” because they either do not offer water but still offer car camping or they require a short backpacking trip.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
When Chris was eight, Walt took him on his first overnight backpacking trip, a three-day hike in the Shenandoah to climb Old Rag.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
