backward
[bak-werd]
- toward the back or rear.
- with the back foremost.
- in the reverse of the usual or right way: counting backward from 100.
- toward the past: to look backward over one's earlier mistakes.
- toward a less advanced state; retrogressively: Since the overthrow of the president the country has moved steadily backward.
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- directed toward the back or past.
- reversed; returning: a backward movement; a backward journey.
- behind in time or progress; late; slow: a backward learner; a backward country.
- bashful or hesitant; shy: a backward lover.
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- backward and forward, thoroughly: He knew his lesson backward and forward.Also backwards and forwards.
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Origin of backward
Synonyms
See more synonyms for backward on Thesaurus.com8. tardy; retarded, underdeveloped. 9. disinclined; timid, retiring.
Antonyms
1. forward.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
backward
- (usually prenominal) directed towards the reara backward glance
- retarded in physical, material, or intellectual developmentbackward countries; a backward child
- of or relating to the past; conservative or reactionary
- (in combination)backward-looking
- reluctant or bashfula backward lover
- chess (of a pawn) behind neighbouring pawns and unable to be supported by them
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- a variant of backwards
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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
Word Origin and History for backward and forward
backward
adv.
c.1300, from abakward, from Old English on bæc (see back (adv.)) + -weard adjectival and adverbial suffix (see -ward). Old English had the adverb bæcling. As an adjective, from 1550s. Meaning "behindhand with regard to progress" is first attested 1690s. To ring bells backward (from lowest to highest), c.1500, was a signal of alarm for fire or invasion, or to express dismay. Another Middle English word for "backward, wrongly" was arseward (c.1400).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with backward and forward
backward and forward
Also, backwards and forwards.
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1
Same as back and forth.
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2
Thoroughly, completely, as in He read the speech over and over, until he knew it backwards and forwards. [Late 1500s]
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backward
In addition to the idiom beginning with backward
- backward and forward
also see:
- bend over backward
- fall over (backwards)
- know like a book (backwards and forwards)
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.