🎾 A tennis shot 🎾 To hit across-body ✍️ Slanting letters 🎾 Across-body hit

backhand

4.8

A hit with the back of the hand facing the ball across the body

adjective
/ˈbækˌhænd/

: de revés

She practiced her backhand swing to improve consistency on the tennis court.

Examples

The player won the point with a powerful backhand volley.
His backhand shot surprised his opponent during the match.
She hit a powerful backhand shot during the match.
His backhand technique improved significantly this season.
With a flick of her wrist, she executed a perfect backhand return that caught her opponent off guard.
His quick backhand stroke allowed him to keep the ball in play during the intense rally.
During practice, she concentrated on improving her backhand technique to gain an edge in upcoming matches.

Synonyms

backhanded

vsbackhand

1 6.4

A racket stroke played with the back of the hand moving across the body

is the same action but named using a different word form

Antonyms

forehand

7 3.4

A stroke hit with the palm facing forward in tennis or badminton

Compounds

backhand shot

1 3.6

A stroke in tennis or similar racket sports made with the back of the hand facing the ball

two-handed backhand

1 3.9

A backhand shot you make while holding the racket with both hands

backhand drive

6.0

A hard straight shot hit with the racket across the body in tennis

backhand stroke

3.7

A hit in tennis or table tennis when the back of the hand faces the ball

Surface Forms

backhand positive

backhanded comparative

backhandest superlative

Morphology

backhand = back + hand (transparent) = back + hand

Describes a stroke made with the back of the hand facing the direction of the stroke; the compound elements map directly to its physical description.

Etymology

Backhand for a stroke comes from back and hand because the player uses the 'back' of the 'hand' when making the hit. That's why a backhand stroke is one where the back side of the hand faces the direction of the shot.