mossback
[maws-bak, mos-]
- Informal.
- a person holding very antiquated notions; reactionary.
- a person living in the backwoods; rustic.
- an old turtle.
- Angling. a large and old fish, as a bass.
- a wild bull or cow.
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Origin of mossback
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mossback
Historical Examples of mossback
There is the "old" farmer, there is the "new" farmer, and there is the "mossback."
Chapters in Rural ProgressKenyon L. Butterfield
Every "new" farmer when full grown competes with every mossback.
Chapters in Rural ProgressKenyon L. Butterfield
The mossback cannot win, because he prefers a flintlock to a Mauser.
Chapters in Rural ProgressKenyon L. Butterfield
You cannot have the new farmer unless you also have the mossback.
Chapters in Rural ProgressKenyon L. Butterfield
Fig. 239 shows a mossback's house or cabin in the lake lands of Canada.
Shelters, Shacks and ShantiesD.C. Beard
mossback
- an old turtle, shellfish, etc, that has a growth of algae on its back
- informal a provincial or conservative person
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for mossback
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper