back country
1
5.7
- noun
- /ˈbæk ˈkʌntri/
:
zona rural
- The remote back country is perfect for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.
- back-country trails
- back-country roads
- back-country guide
Examples
-
The GPS in my car was inadvertently set to "Avoid Tolls," and so my four-hour trip down the turnpike became a seven-hour meander through stop lights, back country highways, and the single-lane roads of north Florida.
Blog text (24) -
In Terre Haute, a wreck caused our driver to detour onto a back country road.
Blog text (32) -
"Drive east into the back country.
Fiction book (1993) -
Go by the salt flats, then through the back country.
-
Out that way, that's back country.
-
I just do a job patrolling the rice paddies out in the back country.
-
So, I'm in Idaho, back country, all I have is a saddle blanket, buck knife, some water I packed in, and I realize that it's my mom's birthday, right?
-
While it used the incident to attack the South in general, the national press drew a clear, if oversimplified, distinction between the "back country" and the cities, dubbing Georgia "a state of violent contrasts."
Academic text (2011) -
"Big Cottonwood Canyon is renowned as a great destination for back-country hikers and primitive hunters," Howell continued.
Blog text (14) -
Then, at Pan's pace—out there in the back country the peasants still secretly honored him, a fact that put a tad of pep in his step—they set off in the direction of France.
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
91
4.6
A place far from towns and people
68
2.0
An area outside towns with few people and open land used for farming
38
5.9
Remote land in Australia far from towns where few people live
26
1.0
In an area away from towns and cities with farms and small villages
19
6.2
A wild area far from towns and roads, like a mountain
8
8.8
An area far from cities or the coast, often remote and less developed
7
8.4
A remote forest area far from towns and roads
2
9.4
A distant land far beyond the sea
1
9.8
A place far from towns and people
1
4.1
A wild area with bushes and small trees, often in Australia
1
9.1
A remote area far from towns with few modern services
1
7.0
A remote place with few people and many trees
1
9.3
A very remote area far from towns and cities
1
9.6
A distant part of a farm often about forty acres used for grazing or crops
A rural area far from towns and cities with few people
Areas far from towns or cities where few people live and life is often hard
Antonyms
How Remote
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'remote, sparsely populated rural area' is transparently built from 'back' (indicating rear/remote) + 'country' (rural land). This straightforward compositional pattern (the back/remote part of the country) is common in English, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Back country comes from the image of the back — the land behind a town — and the country — open land beyond roads, so you can picture a wild area at the town's rear. So today back country means 'remote land with few people', far from towns and roads.