backstop
a wall, wire screen, or the like, serving to prevent a ball from going too far beyond the normal playing area.
Baseball. the catcher.
a person or thing that serves as a support, safeguard, or reinforcement: There were technicians on board as backstops to the automated controls.
to act as a backstop.
to act as a backstop to: The government agreed to backstop companies that invested in oil exploration.
Origin of backstop
1Other words from backstop
- backstopper, noun
Words Nearby backstop
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use backstop in a sentence
California’s offsets are considered additional carbon reductions because the floor serves “as a conservative backstop,” Clegern said.
A Nonprofit Promised to Preserve Wildlife. Then It Made Millions Claiming It Could Cut Down Trees. | by Lisa Song, and James Temple, MIT Technology Review | May 10, 2021 | ProPublicaCredits in the pool can never be sold, but act as a kind of backstop in case of wildfires, drought and other events.
The climate solution actually adding millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere | James Temple, Lisa Song | April 29, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewInstead, it calls on government to act as a backstop through incentives that will lead to job creation and provide greater access to the safety net while expanding things like universal pre-kindergarten and childcare.
It paid for a backstop and dugouts at a neighborhood Little League field.
Domino Sugar is replacing its massive neon landmark in Baltimore — and hopes no one will notice a difference | Colin Campbell | February 7, 2021 | Washington PostThe government is going to be putting a backstop on certain parts of the economy.
Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq, on the Red-Hot Market and Critics of Her Diversity Plan | Eben Shapiro | December 13, 2020 | Time
On the other, you risk ballooning one into the backstop in front of 50,000 people.
Viral Video of the Day: Chrissy Teigen's Drunken Dodger Pitch | Jack Holmes | August 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter the corporate split, the paper will no longer have blockbuster movies to backstop it.
New York Post Looks Thinner After News Corporation Split | David Freedlander | July 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIt could serve as a backstop for Mitt, bringing him over the top at the last possible moment.
The GOP’s Chaotic Primary Calendar Makes Early Nomination Clinch Tough | John Avlon | February 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd Perry thinks TARP was a total mistake—along with all subsequent efforts to backstop or stimulate the economy.
She was out of the cell before it hit the backstop and following me down the hall towards her brother's room.
Highways in Hiding | George Oliver SmithEach time one sailed away over the backstop, it was like the pop of a safety-valve; it averted an explosion.
The Voice in the Fog | Harold MacGrathThe backstop was built up of earth and was soft enough so that the pins would not splinter on striking it.
Castle of Terror | E.J. ListonHe began to turn its center dial, at first a quarter circle, and then all the way to the final backstop of the calibration.
The Long Voyage | Carl Richard JacobiFinally, the tenth shot smacked against the backstop and he racked his weapon and punched at the target return button.
The Best Made Plans | Everett B. Cole
British Dictionary definitions for backstop
/ (ˈbækˌstɒp) /
sport a screen or fence to prevent balls leaving the playing area
a block or catch to prevent excessive backward movement, such as one on the sliding seat of a rowing boat
US to provide with backing or support
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
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