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
Says Kitchin: "I'm a conservative, but not a mossback."
From Time Magazine Archive
As a starter, the government bought out mossback electric companies, built dams, strung transmission lines, and thus provided the electricity that powers today's boom.
From Time Magazine Archive
Rausch's six-month rule may strike some as draconian, but the bishop is no mossback.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Then again, perhaps you noticed that the old mossback headed downstream; and so the chances are the fish might be scared away for some distance."
From Chums in Dixie or The Strange Cruise of a Motorboat by Rathborne, St. George
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.
