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backswept

American  
[bak-swept] / ˈbækˌswɛpt /

adjective

  1. slanting backward or away from the front.

  2. Aeronautics. sweptback.


backswept British  
/ ˈbækˌswɛpt /

adjective

  1. slanting backwards

  2. another word for sweptback

"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

Etymology

Origin of backswept

First recorded in 1915–20; back 2 + swept

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:

Some images show her playing boss, her hair backswept, wearing items including a black leather trench coat and a scoop neck midi dress.

From Seattle Times Mar. 3, 2024

When you hear the air curdling, you don’t know at first if it’s wind or an 18-wheeler pushing down Interstate 10, and then there’s a roar, and backswept wings appear and disappear above you.

From New York Times Dec. 11, 2018

Maybe it was fate: with his rough-hewn features and leonine fall of backswept hair, Gold’s profile bears an uncanny resemblance to the man, Benjamin Franklin, depicted on the medal itself.

From The New Yorker Jul. 24, 2018

The flowery plain was scattered with caribou antlers: the delicate backswept branching antlers of female caribou, the sturdier antlers of male caribou, sometimes with mosses growing on the older ones.

From The Guardian Aug. 27, 2015

An omnivorous or herbivorous lifestyle is also in line with the widened, backswept pubic bones of Balaur: these imply larger guts and a broader, heavier body not especially suited for speedy, predatory behaviour.

From Scientific American Jun. 20, 2015

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