different between backward vs jerkwater
backward
English
Etymology
From Middle English bakwarde, abakward, equivalent to back (adverb) +? -ward.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?bæk.w?(?)d/
- (US) enPR: b?k'w?rd, IPA(key): /?bækw?d/
Adjective
backward (comparative more backward, superlative most backward)
- Situated toward or at the rear of something.
- The silt collects in the backward part of the tank.
- Acting or moving in the direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing.
- Acting or moving in the direction opposite to the usual direction of movement.
- Engage the lock to prevent backward rotation of the wheel.
- Synonym: retrograde
- (figuratively) Acting or moving oppositely to the desired direction of progress.
- Reversed in order or sequence.
- This backward writing is hard to read.
- Reluctant or unable to advance or act.
- (may be offensive) Of a culture, country, practice etc., undeveloped or unsophisticated.
- They were a backward people without any writing.
- (may be offensive) Slow to apprehend; having difficulties in learning.
- Lacking progressive or enlightened thought; outdated.
- The party's ideas and policies are very backward.
- Synonyms: antediluvian, antiquated, backwards, parachronistic, retrograde; see also Thesaurus:obsolete
- Antonym: progressive
- Late or behindhand.
- Synonyms: overdue, tardy; see also Thesaurus:overdue
- (chess) Of a pawn, further behind than pawns of the same colour on adjacent files and unable to be moved forward safely.
- (cricket) On that part of the field behind the batsman's popping crease.
- (cricket) Further behind the batsman's popping crease than something else.
- (obsolete) Unwilling; averse; reluctant.
- (obsolete) Already past or gone; bygone.
- Synonyms: forepast, historical; see also Thesaurus:past
Usage notes
Backwards is possible as a synonym for most senses, both adjectival and adverbial.
- Strictly speaking, in British English backward is an adjective and backwards is an adverb:
- It was a backward move vs He moved backwards
- In American English, the rule may be reversed, and in written American English, backward is more common for the adverb. This follows the same usage for similar words ending in -ward/-wards and -way/-ways. See also -wise.
- Only the -ward forms are commonly used in combination with an adjective, e.g.:
- A backward-facing statue.
Synonyms
- (toward the back): hindwards, rearward, retrograde
- (in the opposite direction of usual): contrariwise, reversedly; See also Thesaurus:contrarily
- (so that the back precedes the front): back to front, in reverse; See also Thesaurus:back to front
Derived terms
Synonyms
- (reversed): mirror image, switched, back to front
- (undeveloped): crude, dated, obsolete, primitive; see also Thesaurus:obsolete
Translations
Adverb
backward (comparative more backward, superlative most backward)
- At, near or towards the rear of something.
- The passenger turned around and walked backward, towards the tail of the aircraft.
- In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.
- He tilted his head backward.
- The grandfather clock toppled backward and crashed to the ground.
- Her arm was bent backward at an odd angle.
- In a direction opposite to the usual direction of movement.
- In reverse gear the wheel turns backward.
- (figuratively) Oppositely to the desired direction of progress, or from a better to a worse state.
- This project seems to be going backward.
- 1700, John Dryden, Theodore and Honoria
- The work went backward.
- In a reversed orientation; back to front.
- He had his cap on backward.
- In a reversed order or sequence.
- A palindrome reads the same backward as forward.
- Toward or into the past;
- As we begin the new millennium, it behoves us to look backward as well as forward.
- (obsolete) In the past.
- By way of reflection; reflexively. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir J. Davies to this entry?)
Usage notes
See notes under adjective sense.
Antonyms
- forward, forwards
Translations
Noun
backward
- The state behind or past.
Translations
Related terms
- backwards
References
- backward at OneLook Dictionary Search
- backward in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- draw back, drawback
backward From the web:
- what backwards
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- what backwardation means
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- what backwards compatible for ps4
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jerkwater
English
Etymology
US mid-19th century. From jerk (“to move with a sudden movement”) +? water. Refers to the need to supply the boilers of steam trains with water. In rural areas and small towns with no water tower, where the train did not stop, this was done by scooping ("jerking") water from a track pan.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /?d??k.w?.t?/
Noun
jerkwater (plural jerkwaters)
- (US, historical) A train on a branch line.
- 1975, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 71, no. 1 (Mar. 1975), page 355
- […] by bailing from near streams with buckets, (the brake-man called this operation jerking water) and from this the road gets its name of jerkwater road.
- 1975, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 71, no. 1 (Mar. 1975), page 355
- A jerkwater town.
Translations
Adjective
jerkwater (comparative more jerkwater, superlative most jerkwater)
- (US, colloquial, derogatory) Of an inhabited place, small, insignificant, and backward.
Synonyms
- See: Thesaurus:remote place
Derived terms
- jerkwater town
Translations
Related terms
- jerk water
- jerk-water
jerkwater From the web:
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