mossback
Americannoun
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Informal.
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a person holding very antiquated notions; reactionary.
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a person living in the backwoods; rustic.
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an old turtle.
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Angling. a large and old fish, as a bass.
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a wild bull or cow.
noun
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an old turtle, shellfish, etc, that has a growth of algae on its back
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informal a provincial or conservative person
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mossback
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.
In true mossback fashion, he bought a plot of land on a particularly damp section of the island because he loved the rain.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2023
South Carolina's grumpy, mastiff-faced old Ellison DuRant Smith may be the Senate's No. 1 mossback, but South Carolina loves him still, treasures him as a precious relic.
From Time Magazine Archive
To the passengers, most railroaders are mossback operators who neglect service while engaging in a never-ending round of raising fares, chopping schedules and eliminating branch lines.
From Time Magazine Archive
Rausch's six-month rule may strike some as draconian, but the bishop is no mossback.
From Time Magazine Archive
At any rate he looked so lonesome and forlorn that the mossback felt a little thrill of pity for him, and decided not to kill him after all, but to drive him away again.
From Forest Neighbors Life Stories of Wild Animals by William Davenport Hulbert
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.
