saddleback

[sad-l-bak]

noun

any of various animals having markings on the back that resemble a saddle, as a male harp seal.

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Origin of saddleback

First recorded in 1535–45; saddle + back¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for saddleback

Contemporary Examples

Is Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church and author of the beststelling The Purpose Driven Life, a fundamentalist?
Fred Phelps May Be Dead, But His Fundamentalist God Lives
Matthew Paul Turner
March 23, 2014
Obama also said, “I love the ministries that are taking place here at Saddleback.”
Hillary, ‘The Family,’ and Uganda’s Anti-Gay Christian Mafia
Sally Kohn
February 25, 2014
Pastor Rick Warren, leader of the evangelical Saddleback mega-church in California.
Hillary, ‘The Family,’ and Uganda’s Anti-Gay Christian Mafia
Sally Kohn
February 25, 2014
That is like advising Ted Haggard to attend the Saddleback Forum.
Blago on the Offensive
Dan Abrams
January 28, 2009
A year later, Ssempa returned to Saddleback Church to lead another seminar on AIDS.
Rick Warren's Africa Problem
Max Blumenthal
January 7, 2009

Historical Examples

Saddleback had followed in a half-comprehending way, till he saw what she was doing.
Johnny Bear
E. T. Seton
The trip in past Saddleback Light to Vinalhaven was uneventful.
Jim Spurling, Fisherman
Albert Walter Tolman
They ran off the ledges into Saddleback brook and broke their legs.
A Busy Year at the Old Squire's
Charles Asbury Stephens
The one referred to here is to the north of Blencathara or Saddleback.
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume IV (of 8)
William Wordsworth
Then Saddleback, the bold and swift, walked openly toward the Sheep and barked a loud defiance.
Johnny Bear
E. T. Seton

British Dictionary definitions for saddleback

saddleback

noun

a marking resembling a saddle on the backs of various animals
a breed of black pig with a white band across its back
a rare bird of New Zealand, Philesturnus carunculatus, having a chestnut-coloured saddle-shaped marking across its back and wings
another name for saddle roof
another name for col (def. 1)

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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

Word Origin and History for saddleback

n.

1540s and thereafter in various senses (of landforms, oysters, etc.), from saddle (n.) + back (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper