📦 An out-of-stock order 📦 To request later delivery

to back order

1 3.7

To ask a store to send goods that are out of stock when they arrive

phrasal verb
/ˈbæk ˈɔrdər/

: hacer un pedido pendiente

Because the item was so popular, we had to back order several pieces to fulfill customer requests.

They were completely sold out and back ordered for four months.

Examples

If you're interested in protecting and controlling your own online reputation, one of the easiest things in the world you can do is register as many domain names as are available and try to back-order all the rest.

Blog text (28)
Do you want to back order?

Being John Malkovich (1999)
They were completely sold out and back ordered for four months.

MIgardener
I decided to back order the new phone since it was out of stock.
The store told me that I could back order the book and receive it once it arrives.

Synonyms

to preorder

vsto back order

6 3.7

To order a product before it is released

is requested after stock runs out to receive it when available

Surface Forms

back order infinitive

back ordered past

back ordered past participle

back ordering present participle

back orders third person singular

Morphology

back + order

The element 'order' clearly means a customer request and the phrase uses 'back' in the sense of delayed or outstanding supply, so a learner can partly infer that it involves requesting goods to be delivered later. However, the specific commercial sense and the required sense of 'back' (deferred/outstanding) are somewhat specialized and not the most salient meaning of 'back' for learners, so the exact meaning likely requires exposure.

Etymology

The verb back order comes from the same picture: a shop puts your order at the back of the line until new stock arrives. So to back order something means 'to ask for it now and have it sent later'.