backstop
Americannoun
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a wall, wire screen, or the like, serving to prevent a ball from going too far beyond the normal playing area.
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Baseball. the catcher.
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a person or thing that serves as a support, safeguard, or reinforcement.
There were technicians on board as backstops to the automated controls.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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sport a screen or fence to prevent balls leaving the playing area
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a block or catch to prevent excessive backward movement, such as one on the sliding seat of a rowing boat
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of backstop
Explanation
In baseball, a backstop is the wall or fence behind home plate that keeps the ball on the playing field. If the batter hits the ball into the backstop, it's a foul ball. When a softball player is up at bat, the backstop is behind her. Part of the backstop's purpose is to keep players and spectators from getting hurt by foul balls or bats that players toss after hitting the ball. You can also use the word backstop to describe a thing or a person that stands behind something, offering reinforcement or support. The earliest use of the word, in 1819, is from cricket.
Vocabulary lists containing backstop
Baseball in April
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Race to the Sun
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Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!
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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:
In the past, courts have supplied this important backstop in other widespread policy challenges, such as the public health threats of tobacco use and the opioid epidemic, that lacked adequate legislative or regulatory responses.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
Ellison’s father, billionaire Larry Ellison, late last year agreed to backstop the $47-billion in equity needed to complete the acquisition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Nvidia has been at the center of a flurry of recent dealmaking activity, using its financial heft to backstop data-center financing and other deals with customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The world’s largest company by market cap also recently scaled back a proposed financial backstop for OpenAI’s massive data-center project in Ohio amid concerns about how investors would react to the potential liability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
I’m supposed to use this time to make my own notes on the radio interview yesterday—as a kind of backstop in case the actual broadcast doesn’t match up with what v.L. remembers of it.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
Google, for instance, has backstopped some data centers for Anthropic, in part to increase sales of its in-house AI chips, known as tensor processing units.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
California backstopped the federal subsidies for the lowest-income enrollees — mostly those for households earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level, or $23,940 for individuals and $49,500 for a family of four.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
In the traditional model, developers and external investors—often infrastructure funds and banks—took on the risk of developing and constructing the project, with financing backstopped by the creditworthy tech company’s power purchase agreement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
The Senate proposal would also extend $10 million in coverage to credit unions, which have long shared similar deposit insurance limits as banks, albeit backstopped by separate funds.
From Barron's ● Dec. 18, 2025
Multiple Democratic- and Republican-run states, as well as Native American tribes, declared emergencies and backstopped tens of millions of dollars for food payments, while acknowledging that that still wouldn’t suffice.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2025
Larger technology companies have started backstopping deals with AI startups to help them secure access.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Warner’s board told shareholders to reject Paramount’s bid last week, citing concerns that the Ellisons weren’t fully backstopping the financing.
From Barron's ● Dec. 22, 2025
Nvidia also committed to purchase any unsold cloud-computing capacity from CoreWeave through 2032, effectively backstopping its customer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
The companies told Congress this year they plan to roughly quadruple the list price of the shots, to about $130, because they are entering the private market and the government is no longer backstopping purchases.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 2, 2023
With Darrow doing most of the backstopping, and Larson ready to fill in any moment he’s needed, you’re going to keep a five-thousand-dollar catcher on the bench for a pinch hitter!
From Lefty Locke Pitcher-Manager by Burt L. Standish
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.
