different between backshot vs foreshot

English

Etymology

back +? shot

Pronunciation

Adjective

backshot (not comparable)

1. (of a water wheel) Having the water introduced just behind the summit, combining the advantages of breastshot and overshot systems, since the full amount of the potential energy released by the falling water is harnessed as the water descends the back of the wheel.

Verb

backshot

1. simple past tense and past participle of backshoot

Noun

backshot (plural backshots)

1. (chiefly sports) A shot that sends something backwards, such as a shot that sends the ball behind the player making it.
2. A measurement of the azimuth when sighting to an earlier point along a path that is being measured with a compass.
3. A shot in the back.
4. (photography and cinematography) A shot taken from behind the subject.
5. (Caribbean, Jamaican, slang) A sexual position in which the man penetrates his partner from behind ; doggy style.

Coordinate terms

• foreshot, midshot
• undershot

English

Etymology

From fore- +? shot.

Noun

foreshot (plural foreshots)

1. The spirits that first come over when an alcoholic liquid is distilled
2. (chiefly sports) A shot that sends something forewards, such as a shot that sends the ball ahead the player making it.

   Foreshots knock the ball forward.

3. A measurement of the azimuth when sighting to the next point along a path that is being measured with a compass.
   • 1997, Proceedings of the Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, volume 2:

     Twelve foreshot and twelve backshot records at varying offsets were acquired for each geophone setup to achieve 24 fold duplicity.

4. (architecture) A portion of a building that protrudes out.
5. (photography or cinematography) The foreground of a photographic image.

Verb

foreshot

1. simple past tense and past participle of foreshoot

Coordinate terms

• midshot, backshot

References

• OED 2nd edition (online)