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
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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:
BBC Radio 2 boss Helen Thomas said: "Thank you to Owain for picking up the Pudsey backpack baton from Sara on behalf of the many thousands of children who will benefit."
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The brief social media clip features Gizmo rustling around inside a backpack in an indiscernible location.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
"I keep a backpack with essential items," says Natalia, 37.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
When Atrakchi and Meister hike with Taita, they carry a sturdy, mesh backpack in case Taita gets tired or nervous around dogs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Ahem,” the salty woman says again, nudging one of my backpack straps with the pointed toe of her red patent high heel.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Photos shared with the Journal showed strollers, children carrying colorful backpacks and their parents among the passengers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Sheets, backpacks, and outstretched bodies transform the emblematic seafront promenade into an open-air dormitory for a few hours.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 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
Reducing the idea to the point of absurdism, Gill asked Hartig if the cartoon character on countless children’s backpacks was “racist.”
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
She’s balancing six backpacks while simultaneously tugging a rolling suitcase.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
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
Adamson, according to an ABC report, is a former teacher who backpacked across the country and wrote a book about the subject.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
After he graduated, they transitioned from being at college together to dating long-distance while Mr. Reimers backpacked around the world.
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
Or that I haven’t backpacked in 13 years.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2021
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
I saw these and many other otherworldly species while on a life-changing backpacking trip to the island five years ago, which I chronicled for this newspaper.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
The Gatlinburg, Tenn., company offers special viewing tours and backpacking trips in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
A man from Edinburgh says he is facing jail in Thailand because he picked up a woman's phone in a bar "by mistake" on the first day of a backpacking holiday.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
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.
