to back
- verb
- /bæk/
- The community decided to back the local charity by donating money and resources.
- government-backed
- back a claim
- administration-backed
Stephen Bartlett is backing Elon Musk in SpaceX.
- Stephen Bartlett is backing Elon Musk in SpaceX.
- But if they see that that they will, they will back you all the way.
Examples
-
Just to back you up a little bit...
-
We urge all our supporters to back Tremblay.
-
Whatever it is, we'll back you up.
-
Software houses will deliver quality and back it up with product liability guarantees.
Academic text (2011) -
Will that back up Laura Manion's story?
-
If you want me to help, I will back you in this project.
-
The company has decided to back the new initiative aimed at reducing waste.
Synonyms
Give help to a person or idea
Help someone or show evidence for an idea
To publicly show support for a person or idea
To give formal support to a proposal during a meeting
To support a person or idea by using your influence
To help and protect someone when things are difficult
Choose someone or something after thinking about other options
To show public support for someone or something
Support and protect someone in hard times
To choose to support someone, often by voting
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
A time in the past people remember with warm feelings, often when they were young
Know a place or thing very well because you have seen it many times
- Informal
Start again from the beginning when a plan or idea fails
- Informal
To try again after a failure, especially when you feel afraid
- Informal
To start doing your normal work and activities after a break
- Informal
In a situation with very few choices where you must try hard to survive or win
A style that looks formal at the front and casual at the back
- Informal
So generous that they would give almost everything to help others
Try to make things the way they were after they changed
- Informal
To notice things happening behind you without turning around
- Archaic
A future problem someone creates for themselves that causes trouble later
Treat someone in the same bad way they treated you
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
To recover after illness, money problems, or other setbacks
Compounds
- Jargon
A player in American football who runs with the ball to gain yards for the team
A promise from a seller to give back the full price if you are not satisfied
- Specialized
The part of a program that runs on a server and stores and processes data
- Specialized
A device you wear around your back to support it and help you sit or stand straight
- Specialized
A piece of code given to another function to run later when an action finishes
- Jargon
An official in American football who stands deep behind defenders to watch the play and enforce rules
- Specialized
Sections at the end of a book that give extra information like appendices and an index
- Specialized
A strong flow of hot gas pushed back from a fired weapon that can injure people behind it
- Specialized
A direction directly opposite the one you found that you use to check your position
- Specialized
A gymnastics move where a person lies on their back, arches their back and brings their feet to their head
- UK
A less-used hallway at the back of a building that people use for private or service access
- Specialized
A martial arts position with the back leg bent and the front leg straight for balance and quick movement
- Specialized
A vowel you make with the tongue near the back of the mouth, like the 'o' in pole
How Supportive
Surface Forms
Etymology
Back comes from the old English word bæc meaning 'rear' and gives the idea of support from behind; a helpful way to remember this is to imagine standing behind someone to hold them up, which is why to back someone is to support them.