- Back
- Back Back (b[a^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Backed} (b[a^]kt); p.
pr. & vb. n. {Backing}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To get upon the back of; to mount.
[1913 Webster]
I will back him [a horse] straight. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. To place or seat upon the back. [R.] [1913 Webster]
Great Jupiter, upon his eagle backed, Appeared to me. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. To drive or force backward; to cause to retreat or recede; as, to back oxen. [1913 Webster]
4. To make a back for; to furnish with a back; as, to back books. [1913 Webster]
5. To adjoin behind; to be at the back of. [1913 Webster]
A garden . . . with a vineyard backed. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The chalk cliffs which back the beach. --Huxley. [1913 Webster]
6. To write upon the back of; as, to back a letter; to indorse; as, to back a note or legal document. [1913 Webster]
7. To support; to maintain; to second or strengthen by aid or influence; as, to back a friend. ``The Parliament would be backed by the people.'' --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
Have still found it necessary to back and fortify their laws with rewards and punishments. --South. [1913 Webster]
The mate backed the captain manfully. --Blackw. Mag. [1913 Webster]
8. To bet on the success of; -- as, to back a race horse. [1913 Webster]
{To back an anchor} (Naut.), to lay down a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one.
{To back the field}, in horse racing, to bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated ``the field'', will win.
{To back the oars}, to row backward with the oars.
{To back a rope}, to put on a preventer.
{To back the sails}, to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern.
{To back up}, to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends.
{To back a warrant} (Law), is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender.
{To back water} (Naut.), to reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
