backpack
Americannoun
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backpacks
plural
verb (used without object)
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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
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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
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backpackssimple
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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:
You can never have enough snacks in your backpack on the road.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Angel Sauceda, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, said go bags — any durable backpack or duffel bag will do — should have:
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
He secretly took the American's backpack, containing his MacBook, a satellite transmitter and other personal items, for regime operatives to look through, multiple sources say.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Lillia, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, was last seen on Saturday at the Trafford Centre shopping mall wearing a small black backpack.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Oliver slid off the wall, hefted his backpack, and offered me his hand.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
They departed at 7 a.m. on Aug. 17, carrying only two light backpacks with their computers, jewelry, some clothes and a little food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
“Every time we were scouting by boat, we would take our backpacks with us,” Mungiu recalls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 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
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
Tickets and money were passed back and forth; backpacks were handed over and hoisted aboard.
From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart
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
As recounted by Hey and the Santa Barbara Independent, Montgomery had backpacked or cycled across South America, including Argentina and Chile, and across Asia, including India and the Himalayas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2025
No. I lived in Latin America in my 20s and backpacked many times.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 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
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
At one point, he set out on an ill-timed backpacking trip as McKinsey sent an assessment over email for a consulting role.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Back in 2010, Francesco Patarnello, Matteo Danieli and Luca Ferrari went on a backpacking trip as friends and returned as co-founders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
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
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
It’s hard to do that when you’re backpacking in Nepal.
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
