to make effective from an earlier date; to make retroactive.
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Acting from behind and in concealment; backstairs; as, backdoor intrigues.
A receding or giving up; a complete surrender.
the scenery hung at back of stage. Also called in Britain backcloth.
Having a back; fitted with a back; as, a backed electrotype or stereotype plate. Used in composition; as, broad-backed; hump-backed.
One who, or that which, backs; especially one who backs a person or thing in a contest.
A fall or throw on the back in wrestling.
A secret enemy.
In the game of backgammon, to beat by ending the game before the loser is clear of his first /table/. When played for betting purposes, the winner in such a case scores three times the wagered amount.
The execution of low priority programs while higher priority programs are not using the processing system.
Sloping from left to right; -- said of handwriting.
With the hand turned backward; as, a backhanded blow.
Stroked with a backhand{2}; as, a backhanded drive.
State of being backhanded; the using of backhanded or indirect methods.
A backhanded blow.
A method of tripping by getting the leg back of the opponent's heel on the outside and pulling forward while pushing his body back; a throw made in this way. To trip (a person) in this way.
A building behind the main building. A privy; an outhouse; a necessary.
The act of moving backward, or of putting or moving anything backward.
A rebate or chase in masonry left to receive a permanent slab or other filling.
The distance through which one part of connected machinery, as a wheel, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, resulting from looseness in fitting or from wear; also, the jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.
Without a back.
A large stick of wood, forming the back of a fire on the hearth. Contrasted to forestick.
to hike while carrying a backpack; -- often used in the form go backpacking; as, to backpack through the forest.
one who backpacks; as, two backpackers were mauled by bears in Yellowstone this week.
pedal backwards, as on a bicycle.
A piece, or plate which forms the back of anything, or which covers the back.
See Bacharach.
a support that you can lean against while sitting.
the meeting place of a group of leaders who make their decisions via private negotiations.
Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
A saw (as a tenon saw) whose blade is stiffened by an added metallic back.
To plow again, in the fall; -- said of prairie land broken up in the spring.
One living in the back or outlying districts of a community.
In Egypt and the Turkish empire, a relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter); a gratuity; a /tip/.
The hinder part, posteriors, or rump of a person or animal.
The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight, n., 3.
To slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.
One who backslides.
The act of one who backslides; abandonment of faith or duty.
In typing text, to press the backspace key so as to reposition the carriage or cursor on the previous space.
The key on a typewriter or other keyboard used for back spacing.
An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the heavenly bodies, but now superseded by the quadrant and sextant; -- so called because the observer turned his back to the body observed.
concealed from the public; in private.
Private; indirect; secret; conducted with secrecy; intriguing; -- as if finding access by the back stairs; as, backstairs gossip.
A rope or stay extending from the masthead to the side of a ship, slanting a little aft, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast.
A baker.
To sew with backstitches; as, to backstitch a seam.
In baseball, a fence, prop. at least 90 feet behind the home base, to stop the balls that pass the catcher; also, the catcher himself.
A female baker.
a swimming stroke that resembles the crawl except the swimmer lies on his or her back. It is usually executed with backward-moving circular arm strokes and a flutter kick.
aligned from front to back; slanted toward the back; -- used of hair.
any of numerous predaceous aquatic insects of the family Notonectidae (such as Notonecta undulata) that swim on their backs and may inflict painful bites; -- also called boat bug.
A sword with one sharp edge.
anything kept in reserve to serve as a substitute in case of failure or unavailability of the normal or primary object; -- used for devices, plans, people, etc. Also used attributively; as, there was no backup for the electrical supply; a backup motor; a backup generator.
To keep back; to hinder.
The seller's postponement of delivery of stock or shares, with the consent of the buyer, upon payment of a premium to the latter; -- also, the premium so paid. See Contango.
Reluctantly; slowly; aversely.
The state of being backward.
With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward.
The flow of water propelled backward by the propeller, paddle wheel, or oars of a boat.
Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current, or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar.
The forests or partly cleared grounds on the frontiers.
A man living in the forest in or beyond the new settlements, especially on the western frontiers of the United States in former times.
A disease of hawks. See Filanders.
The back and sides of a pig salted and smoked; formerly, the flesh of a pig salted or fresh.
One who adheres to the philosophy of Lord Bacon.
The presence of bacteria in the blood.
Of or pertaining to bacteremia.
See Bacterium.
Of, pertaining to, or caused by bacteria.
Destructive of bacteria.
Same as Germicide.
The presence of bacteria in the blood; same as bacteremia.
A bacterial vaccine.
Of or pertaining to bacteriology; as, bacteriological studies.
One skilled in bacteriology.
The branch of microbiology relating to bacteria.
Chemical decomposition brought about by bacteria without the addition of oxygen.
a virus which infects bacteria; -- also colloquially called phage in laboratory jargon.
of or pertaining to bacteriophage.
Relating to bacterioscopy; as, a bacterioscopic examination.
One skilled in bacterioscopic examinations.
The application of a knowledge of bacteria for their detection and identification, as in the examination of polluted water.
inhibition of the growth of bacteria, without outright killing of the organism.
a chemical or biological material that inhibits bacterial growth.
of or pertaining to bacteriostasis or a bacteriostat.
to subject to the action of bacteria.
A microscopic single-celled organism having no distinguishable nucleus, belonging to the kingdom Monera. Bacteria have varying shapes, usually taking the form of a jointed rodlike filament, or a small sphere, but also in certain cases having a branched form. Bacteria are destitute of chlorophyll, but in those members of the phylum Cyanophyta (the blue-green algae) other light-absorbing pigments are present. They are the smallest of microscopic organisms which have their own metabolic processes carried on within cell membranes, viruses being smaller but not capable of living freely. The bacteria are very widely diffused in nature, and multiply with marvelous rapidity, both by fission and by spores. Bacteria may require oxygen for their energy-producing metabolism, and these are called aerobes; or may multiply in the absence of oxygen, these forms being anaerobes. Certain species are active agents in fermentation, while others appear to be the cause of certain infectious diseases. The branch of science with studies bacteria is bacteriology, being a division of microbiology. See Bacillus.
to subject to the action of bacteria.
Resembling bacteria; as, bacteroid particles.
Of or pertaining to Bactria in Asia. A native of Bactria.
See Bascule.
shaped like a rod.
Of or pertaining to the rod or punishment with the rod.
A cephalopod of the extinct genus Baculites, found fossil in the Cretaceous rocks. It is like an uncoiled ammonite.
Measurement of distance or altitude by a staff or staffs.
Wanting good qualities, whether physical or moral; injurious, hurtful, inconvenient, offensive, painful, unfavorable, or defective, either physically or morally; evil; vicious; wicked; -- the opposite of good; as, a bad man; bad conduct; bad habits; bad soil; bad air; bad health; a bad crop; bad news.
A person given to idle observation of everything, with wonder or astonishment; a credulous or gossipy idler.
compar. of Bad, a.
A large black seaweed (Alaria esculenta) sometimes eaten in Europe; -- also called murlins, honeyware, and henware.
Somewhat bad; inferior.
To mark or distinguish with a badge.
Having no badge.
To tease or annoy, as a badger when baited; to worry or irritate persistently.
Having legs of unequal length, as the badger was thought to have.
One who badgers.
The act of one who badgers.
A fresh-water sponge (Spongilla), common in the north of Europe, the powder of which is used to take away the livid marks of bruises.
An evergreen Chinese shrub of the Magnolia family (Illicium anisatum), and its aromatic seeds; Chinese anise; star anise.
A cement or distemper paste (as of plaster and powdered freestone, or of sawdust and glue or lime) used by sculptors, builders, and workers in wood or stone, to fill holes, cover defects, finish a surface, etc.
Playful raillery; banter.
In a bad manner; poorly; not well; unskillfully; imperfectly; unfortunately; grievously; so as to cause harm; disagreeably; seriously.
A game, similar to lawn tennis, played with shuttlecocks.
The state of being bad.
One of the somites (arthromeres) that make up the thorax of Arthropods.
One of the thoracic legs of Arthropods.
The thorax of Arthropods.
A meteorite, or similar rude stone artificially shaped, held sacred or worshiped as of divine origin.
To strike; to beat; to make a baff.
A defeat by artifice, shifts, and turns; discomfiture.
not understanding.
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