to back
- verb
- /bæk/
- My neighbor's house backs up to a large park where children often play.
Examples
-
A recent report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project backs up these anecdotal observations.
Academic text (2014) -
You just back him up like this and press firmly.
-
- The church backs right up to your property, sir.
-
The car, a black Seville, the current model, had been backed in; the driver's door was open.
Fiction book (1991) -
An idealized grave site has a view over moving water, backed by rising land.
Academic text (1993) -
I'm doing a series of articles on California's changing coastline, and I need some soil samples to back up a few theories.
-
Look, just beyond these polished concrete floors... is a non-fenced pool... that backs up to a cliff with a sheer drop of two thousand feet.
-
The garden backs onto a beautiful lake, providing a stunning view.
-
The apartment complex backs directly to the river, making it a serene location.
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 Angled
Surface Forms
Etymology
Back comes from the old English word bæc meaning 'rear', so when a house or garden backs onto something it has its 'rear' side facing or touching that place.