Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
on the back of

on the back of

14 4.0
Because of something, often a success, something else happens
  • idiom
translation icon : a raíz de
  • The team gained momentum on the back of their recent victory.
  • comes on the back of

So on the back of that, we have our first dilemma today.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • And the real estate market has taken off on the back of a healthy construction sector.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Realize that your salary, if you're at Harvard or this nifty podium here, is partly paid for on the backs of these children.

  • So on the back of that, we have our first dilemma today.

    The Girls Bathroom

  • There are plenty of people who've built their entire business on the back of free organic social media.

  • So my point is that entire system functions on the back of the repo market in the United States.

  • Motorola's problem may be that their core business is built on the back of a single US carrier.

    Blog text (27)

  • Gold Mining Stocks Shine on the Back of a Weak Dollar

    Blog text (1)

  • The company is making a nice comeback on the back of CEO Tim Armstrong's turnaround.

    Blog text (27)

  • One family accumulating over 100 billion dollars on the backs of millions of workers paid a below poverty-level wage.

    Blog text (2)

  • They felt that it was an another example of a corporation capitalizing on the backs of these small struggling franchisees.

Synonyms

due to
vson the back of
∞ 1.0

Because of something

describes consequence without explicitly naming the cause
in the wake of
vson the back of
127 4.0

After something happens, because of that event

means a consequence but not necessarily soon after
on account of
vson the back of
66 1.7

Because of something such as illness or rain

focuses on resulting consequence rather than naming the reason
on the heels of
vson the back of
36 4.0

Happening very soon after an event, often because of it

refers to consequence generally without extreme immediacy
following
vson the back of
1.0

Moving in the same direction as another thing

means consequence resulting from something rather than mere sequence

How Direct

hereby
  • Formal
153 5.7
because of
∞ 1.0
on the back of
14 4.0
following
1.0
after
574 1.0

Surface Forms

on the back of main

Morphology

on + the + back + of

The phrase uses the spatial relation 'on' + 'back' as a figurative basis/support (something being carried or riding on the back of something else), so a learner who knows the words can often infer a causal or supportive relation in context. Because this is a metaphorical extension rather than a straightforward compositional meaning, it is partially predictable but not fully transparent to an unexposed B1 learner.

Etymology

On the back of may come from the simple image of one thing riding on another's back, being carried along. So when we say something happened on the back of another event, we mean it happened 'as a result of' or was helped by that earlier thing.