backwards
Britishadverb
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towards the rear
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with the back foremost
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in the reverse of usual order or direction
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to or towards the past
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into a worse state
the patient was slipping backwards
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towards the point of origin
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informal to make a special effort, esp in order to please
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informal to understand completely
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.
"Survivors told me that the boat started to sink backwards as soon as they got in it," Alexandre Coissac, IOM chief of mission in Djibouti, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
She tripped backwards over a wooden platform, and I was surprised that she was able to get up, but the biggest surprise was how it affected her emotionally.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
“You play against a really good defense on the road, going backwards is going to be tough,” said Stafford, who completed 30 of 55 passes for 390 yards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Burnham appealed for "calm on all sides", adding in an interview with BBC television that that "big gains" had been made in Northern Ireland "and we don't want to see things go backwards".
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Failure to recognize that history can, indeed must, be read backwards leads to a whole series of historical questions being outlawed.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
