hollow back

American

noun

Bookbinding.

a paper tube or roll, almost flattened, having one side glued to the back of a book and the other to the inside of the spine.

hollow-back British

noun

pathol the nontechnical name for lordosis Compare hunchback

"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

Other Word Forms

hollow-backed adjective

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.

For cloth or half-cloth binding a hollow back is frequently glued on.

From Project Gutenberg

If the boarded book has a hollow back, first one end is shaped and the projecting back is neatly cut clean and straight to the other board with the shears, and then the other end is shaped.

From Project Gutenberg

If he has a defect, that defect is to be inherited by the whole future flock; if it is a material one—as, for example, a hollow back, bad cross, or thin fleece, or a highly uneven fleece—the flock will be one of low quality and little value.

From Project Gutenberg

Called "hollow back" in England.

From Project Gutenberg

The hollow back of this barrier would prove a very good refuge against the storm, for it happened to face in the best possible way.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023