different between set vs back

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?t, IPA^(key): /s?t/
• Rhymes: -?t
• Homophone: sett

Etymology 1

From Middle English setten, from Old English settan, from Proto-Germanic *satjan?, from Proto-Indo-European *sodéyeti, causative of *sed- (“to sit”).

Verb

set (third-person singular simple present sets, present participle setting, simple past set, past participle set or (dialectal) setten)

1. (transitive) To put (something) down, to rest.

   Synonyms: put, lay, set down

   Antonym: pick up

2. (transitive) To attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.

   • The Lord set a mark upon Cain.

3. (transitive) To put in a specified condition or state; to cause to be.

   • The Lord thy God will set thee on high.

   • I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother.

   • 1827, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Hamlet

     Every incident sets him thinking.

4. (transitive) To start (a fire).

   Synonym: light

   Antonyms: extinguish, put out, quench

5. (transitive, dated) To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot.

6. (transitive) To determine or settle.

7. (transitive) To adjust.

   (i.e. I programmed it at that hour to go off at a later time)

   (i.e. I programmed it earlier to go off at that hour.)

8. (transitive) To punch (a nail) into wood so that its head is below the surface.
9. (transitive) To arrange with dishes and cutlery, to set the table.

10. (transitive) To introduce or describe.

11. (transitive) To locate (a play, etc.); to assign a backdrop to, geographically or temporally.

12. (transitive) To compile, to make (a puzzle or challenge).

13. (transitive) To prepare (a stage or film set).
14. (transitive) To fit (someone) up in a situation.
15. (transitive) To arrange (type).

16. (transitive) To devise and assign (work) to.

17. (transitive, volleyball) To direct (the ball) to a teammate for an attack.
18. (intransitive) To solidify.

19. (transitive) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle.

20. (intransitive) Of a heavenly body, to disappear below the horizon of a planet, etc, as the latter rotates.

21. (transitive, bridge) To defeat a contract.
22. (obsolete, now followed by "out", as in set out) To begin to move; to go forth.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V

      The king is set from London, and the scene is now transported, gentles, to Southampton

23. (transitive, botany) To produce after pollination.
    • 2012, Daniel Chamovitz, What a Plant Knows, p. 155

      Many fruit trees will only flower and set fruit following a cold winter.

24. (intransitive, of fruit) To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form.
    • 1906, Canada. Dept. of Agriculture. Fruit Branch, Fruit crop report

      In the Annapolis Valley, in spite of an irregular bloom, the fruit has set well and has, as yet, been little affected by scab.

25. (intransitive, Southern US, Midwestern US, dialects) To sit (be in a seated position).
    • 1987, Toni Morrison, Beloved, page 227:

      And if Mrs. Garner didn't need me right there in the kitchen, I could get a chair and you and me could set out there while I did the vegetables.

26. To hunt game with the aid of a setter.
27. (hunting, transitive, intransitive) Of a dog, to indicate the position of game.

28. To apply oneself; to undertake earnestly.
    • 1654, Henry Hammond, Of Fundamentals...

      If he set industriously and sincerely to perform the commands of Christ, he can have no ground of doubting but it shall prove successful to him.

29. (transitive, intransitive) To fit music to words.
    • 1682, John Dryden, Mac Flecknoe

      Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute.
30. (transitive, intransitive) To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.

31. To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

32. To have a certain direction of motion; to flow; to move on; to tend.

33. (intransitive, country dancing) To acknowledge a dancing partner by facing him or her and moving first to one side and then to the other, while she or he does the opposite.

34. To place or fix in a setting.
35. To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare.

36. To extend and bring into position; to spread.

37. To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Fielding to this entry?)

38. To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state.

39. (masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.
40. (obsolete) To wager in gambling; to risk.
41. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.

    • High on their heads, with jewels richly set, / Each lady wore a radiant coronet.

    • 1815. William Wordsworth, Poems of the Imagination

      pastoral dales thin set with modern farms

42. (obsolete) To value; to rate; used with at.
43. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign.

44. (Scotland) To suit; to become.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English set, sette, from Old English set (“seat, place of residence, camp, settlement, entrenchment, stable, pen”), from Proto-West Germanic *set (“seat”), from Proto-Germanic *set? (“seat”).

Noun

set (plural sets)

1. A punch for setting nails in wood.

2. A device for receiving broadcast radio waves (or, more recently, broadcast data); a radio or television.

3. Alternative form of sett: a hole made and lived in by a badger.
4. Alternative form of sett: pattern of threads and yarns.
5. Alternative form of sett: piece of quarried stone.
6. (horticulture) A small tuber or bulb used instead of seed, particularly onion sets and potato sets.
7. The amount the teeth of a saw protrude to the side in order to create the kerf.
8. (obsolete, rare) That which is staked; a wager; hence, a gambling game.
   • That was but civil war, an equal set.

9. (engineering) Permanent change of shape caused by excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.

10. A bias of mind; an attitude or pattern of behaviour.
11. (piledriving) A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot otherwise be reached by the weight, or hammer.
12. (printing, dated) The width of the body of a type.
13. A young oyster when first attached.
14. Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality.
15. A series or group of something. (Note the similar meaning in Etymology 4, Noun)
16. (colloquial) The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit.

17. The pattern of a tartan, etc.
18. The camber of a curved roofing tile.
19. The full number of eggs set under a hen.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English sett, from Old English ?esett, past participle of settan.

Adjective

set (comparative more set, superlative most set)

1. Fixed in position.
2. Rigid, solidified.
3. Ready, prepared.

4. Intent, determined (to do something).
5. Prearranged.

6. Fixed in one’s opinion.

7. (of hair) Fixed in a certain style.

Synonyms

• (intent, determined): determined, intent
• (prearranged): dictated, prearranged, predetermined, prescribed, specified
• (fixed in one's opinion): fixed, rigid

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 4

From Middle English set, sete, sette (“that which is set, the act of setting, seat”), from Old English set (“setting, seat, a place where people remain, habitation, camp, entrenchment, a place where animals are kept, stall, fold”) and Old English seten (“a set, shoot, slip, branch; a nursery, plantation; that which is planted or set; a cultivated place; planting, cultivation; a setting, putting; a stopping; occupied land”), related to Old English settan (“to set”). Compare Middle Low German gesette (“a set, suite”), Old English gesetl (“assembly”). According to Skeat, in senses denoting a group of things or persons, representing an alteration of sept, from Old French sette (“a religious sect”), from Medieval Latin secta (“retinue”), from Latin secta (“a faction”). See sect. It is quite possible that the modern word is more of a merger between both, however.

Noun

set (plural sets)

1. A young plant fit for setting out; a slip; shoot.
2. A rudimentary fruit.
3. The setting of the sun or other luminary; (by extension) the close of the day.
   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, Adeline

     the set of day
4. (literally and figuratively) General movement; direction; drift; tendency.
   • 1840, Thomas De Quincey, Style

     Here and there, amongst individuals alive to the particular evils of the age, and watching the very set of the current, there may have been even a more systematic counteraction applied to the mischief.
5. A matching collection of similar things. (Note the similar meaning in Etymology 1, Noun.)

6. A collection of various objects for a particular purpose.

7. An object made up of several parts.

8. (set theory) A collection of zero or more objects, possibly infinite in size, and disregarding any order or repetition of the objects which may be contained within it.
9. (in plural, “sets”, mathematics, informal) Set theory.
10. A group of people, usually meeting socially.

11. The scenery for a film or play.
12. (dance) The initial or basic formation of dancers.
13. (exercise) A group of repetitions of a single exercise performed one after the other without rest.
    • 1974, Charles Gaines & George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding, page 22.

      This is the fourth set of benchpresses.

15. (tennis) A complete series of games, forming part of a match.
16. (volleyball) A complete series of points, forming part of a match.
17. (volleyball) The act of directing the ball to a teammate for an attack.
18. (music) A musical performance by a band, disc jockey, etc., consisting of several musical pieces.
19. (music) A drum kit, a drum set.

20. (Britain, education) A class group in a subject where pupils are divided by ability.
21. (poker, slang) Three of a kind, especially if two cards are in one's hand and the third is on the board. Compare trips (“three of a kind, especially with two cards on the board and one in one's hand”).

Synonyms

• (close of the day): dusk, eve, evening, sundown, sunset
• (general movement): direction, drift, heading, motion, movement, path, tendency, trend
• (matching collection of similar things): suite
• (set theory, in plural): set theory
• (group of people, usually meeting socially): club, coterie
• (scenery): scenery
• (performance of several musical pieces): gig, session
• (drum kit): drums, drum kit, drum set
• (three of a kind): three of a kind

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 5

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

set (third-person singular simple present sets, present participle setting, simple past and past participle setted)

1. (Britain, education) To divide a class group in a subject according to ability
   • 2008, Patricia Murphy, Robert McCormick, Knowledge and Practice: Representations and Identities

     In setted classes, students are brought together because they are believed to be of similar 'ability'. Yet, setted lessons are often conducted as though students are not only similar, but identical—in terms of ability, preferred learning style and pace of working.

References

Anagrams

• -est, EST, ETS, ETs, Est, Est., STE, StE, Ste, Ste., TEs, TSE, Tse, est, est., tse

Afrikaans

Noun

set (plural [please provide])

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Z.

Catalan

Etymology 1

From Old Occitan, from Latin septem (“seven”), from Proto-Indo-European *sept??.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?s?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Numeral

set m or f

1. seven

Noun

set m (plural sets)

1. seven

Derived terms

• set pecats capitals

Etymology 2

From Latin sitis, from Proto-Indo-European *d?g??ítis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?s?t/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?s?t/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?set/

Noun

set f (plural sets)

1. thirst

Derived terms

• assedegar
• sedegar
• sedejar

Further reading

• “set” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “set” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “set” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “set” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Crimean Tatar

Noun

set

1. sofa, couch, settee

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?t/
• Homophone: sed
• Rhymes: -?t

Etymology 1

From English set.

Noun

set m

1. (tennis, volleyball) set (part of a match in sports like tennis and volleyball)

Declension

Synonyms

• sada f

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

set

1. genitive plural of sto

Further reading

• set in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• set in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Verb

set

1. past participle of se

Derived terms

• sådan set

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English set.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?t/
• Hyphenation: set
• Rhymes: -?t
• Homophone: Seth

Noun

set m (plural sets, diminutive setje n)

1. A set (collection of objects belonging together).
2. A set (installation consisting of multiple appliances).
3. (tennis) A set (tennis match).
4. A film set (filming location).

   Synonym: filmset

Derived terms

• jetset
• kledingset
• loungeset
• pannenset
• setpoint
• stereoset

Eastern Durango Nahuatl

Noun

set

1. ice

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?t/
• Homophones: cet, cette, sept, sète

Noun

set m (plural sets)

1. (tennis) set

Synonyms

• manche

Derived terms

• balle de set

Further reading

• “set” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• est, Ste., tes

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?s?t]
• Hyphenation: sèt

Etymology 1

From English set, alteration of sept, from Old French sette (“a religious sect”), from Medieval Latin secta (“retinue”), from Latin secta (“a faction”).

Noun

sèt (first-person possessive setku, second-person possessive setmu, third-person possessive setnya)

1. (sports) set, group of games counting as a unit toward a match.

   Synonym: babak

2. set,
   1. a matching collection of similar things.
   2. a collection of various objects for a particular purpose.

   Synonyms: perangkat, setel

3. set, an object made up of several parts.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From English set, from Middle English setten, from Old English settan, from Proto-Germanic *satjan?, from Proto-Indo-European *sodéyeti, causative of *sed- (“to sit”).

Verb

sèt

1. to set
   1. to put in a specified condition or state.
   2. to adjust.
   3. to prepare.
   4. to arrange.

   Synonym: mengeset

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Clipping of strategi (“strategy”)

Noun

set (first-person possessive setku, second-person possessive setmu, third-person possessive setnya)

1. (colloquial) trick; act; strategy

   Synonyms: muslihat, tindak, strategi

Further reading

• “set” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English set.

Noun

set m (invariable)

1. set (group of things in maths, tennis, cinema, etc.)

Anagrams

• est

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin septem.

Adjective

set

1. seven

Noun

set m (uncountable)

1. seven

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /set/, [s??t?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /set/, [s?t?]

Conjunction

set

1. Alternative form of sed
   • c. 1300, Tractatus de Ponderibus et Mensuris
   • sexies viginti petre faciunt carrum plumbi scilicet magnum carrum London’ set carrus del Peek est multo minus.
     • Six times twenty stone make the load of lead, scilicet the great London load, but the load of Peek is much less.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [s?t]

Verb

set

1. supine of se?

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French sept.

Numeral

set

1. seven

Michif

Etymology

From French sept.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [s?t]

Numeral

set

1. seven

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Verb

set

1. present tense of setja, setje, setta and sette
2. imperative of setja and setje

Etymology 2

Verb

set

1. (non-standard since 1938) past participle of sjå

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin sitis, from Proto-Indo-European *d?g??ítis.

Noun

set f or m (plural sets)

1. thirst

Numeral

set (Limousin)

1. seven

Alternative forms

• sèt

Derived terms

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians, 2 edition, ?ISBN, page 910.

Old English

Etymology

Compare the verb settan. Compare Old Norse sæti (whence modern English seat), Old High German gesazi (German Gesäß), Middle Dutch gesaete, from Proto-Germanic *s?tij?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /set/

Noun

set n

1. seat

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Related terms

• ?eset

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin septem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?t/

Numeral

set

1. seven

Descendants

• Middle French: sept
  • French: sept
• Norman: sept, saept
• Walloon: set

Etymology 2

see savoir

Verb

set

1. third-person singular present indicative of savoir

Descendants

• French: sait

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish sed and Portuguese sede and Kabuverdianu sedi.

Noun

set

1. thirst

Piedmontese

Etymology

From Latin septem, from Proto-Italic *septem. Cognates include Italian sette and French sept.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?t/

Numeral

set

1. seven

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?t/

Etymology 1

From English set.

Noun

set m inan

1. (badminton, tennis, volleyball) set (part of the game in badminton, tennis, or volleyball)

Declension

Etymology 2

Noun

set f

1. genitive plural of seta

Further reading

• set in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• set in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English set.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?.t(?)(i)/
• Rhymes: -?t(?)i

Noun

set m (plural sets)

1. set (group of things in maths, tennis, cinema, etc.)

Romansch

Etymology 1

From Latin septem, from Proto-Indo-European *sept??.

Number

set

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader) seven

Alternative forms

• (Sursilvan) siat
• (Sutsilvan) seat

Etymology 2

From Latin sitis, from Proto-Indo-European *d?g??ítis (“perishing, decrease”).

Noun

set f

1. (Sutsilvan) thirst

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) said
• (Sursilvan) seit
• (Surmiran) seid

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English set.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?set/, [?set?]

Noun

set m (plural sets)

1. (tennis) set

Further reading

• “set” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English set.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?t?/
• Homophones: sett, sätt

Noun

set n

1. a set (matching collection of items)
2. a set (in tennis)

Declension

See also

• sett
• sätt
• tågsätt

Anagrams

• est, tes

Walloon

Etymology

From Latin septem, from Proto-Indo-European *sept??.

Numeral

set

1. seven

Welsh

Verb

set (not mutable)

1. Contraction of baset.

Westrobothnian

Etymology

From Old Norse sæti, from Proto-Germanic *s?tij?. Confer the English seat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sè?t]

  Rhymes: -è?t

Noun

set n (definite singular sete, definite plural seta)

1. seat, bench
2. haycock

Derived terms

• höyset (“haycock”)
• snikkarset (“workbench”)

Verb

set (preterite seett, supine sett)

1. to cock hay

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /bæk/, [bæk], [bak], [-k?], [-?k]
• (Scouse) IPA^(key): [bax]
• Rhymes: -æk
• Hyphenation: back

Etymology 1

From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *bak?, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *b?ogo (literally “bending”). The adverb represents an aphetic form of aback.

Compare Middle Low German bak (“back”), from Old Saxon bak, and West Frisian bekling (“chair back”), Old High German bah, Swedish and Norwegian bak. Cognate with German Bache (“sow [adult female hog]”).

Adjective

back (not generally comparable, comparative more back, superlative most back)

1. At or near the rear.

2. Not current.

3. Situated away from the main or most frequented areas.

4. In arrears; overdue.

5. Moving or operating backward.

7. (comparable, phonetics) Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the back of the mouth, near the soft palate (most often describing a vowel).

Usage notes

In linguistic use describing the position of the tongue, the comparative backer and superlative backest are usual; these may also be occasionally found for other senses, especially informally.

Synonyms

• (near the rear): rear
• (not current): former, previous

Antonyms

• (near the rear, phonetics): front
• (not current): current
• (away from the main area): main (of roads)

Translations

See also

• back vowel

Adverb

back (comparative further back, superlative furthest back)

1. (not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place.

2. In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.

   Someone pushed me in the chest and I fell back.

   The grandfather clock toppled back and crashed to the ground.

   Her arm was bent back at an odd angle.

3. In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively.

4. So as to reverse direction and return.

   The light bounces back off the mirror.

5. Towards, into or in the past.

6. Away from someone or something; at a distance.

   Keep back! It could explode at any moment!

7. Away from the front or from an edge.
8. So as shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so.

   This tree is dying back.

   Clear back all this vegetation.

   Draw back the curtains and let in some light.

9. In a manner that impedes.

10. (not comparable) In a reciprocal manner; in return.

11. (postpositive) Earlier, ago.

12. To a later point in time. See also put back.

Translations

Postposition

back

1. Before now, ago
   • Woods, John (1822) Two Years' Residence in the Settlement on the English Prairie, in the Illinois Country, United States (in English), page 138: “Our road was chiefly through woods, and part of it lay through the Hurricane-track, that is where a strong wind, some years back, opened a passage through the woods for a mile in breadth...”

Noun

back (plural backs)

1. The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
   1. The spine and associated tissues.

   2. (slang, uncountable) Large and attractive buttocks.
   3. (figuratively) The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back.

   4. The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back.

   5. (obsolete) That part of the body that bears clothing. (Now used only in the phrase clothes on one's back.)
2. That which is farthest away from the front.
   1. The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side.
      1. The edge of a book which is bound.

      2. (printing) The inside margin of a page.
      3. The side of a blade opposite the side used for cutting.

   2. The reverse side; the side that is not normally seen.

   3. Area behind, such as the backyard of a house.

   4. The part of something that goes last.

   5. (sports) In some team sports, a position behind most players on the team.
3. (figuratively) Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back.

4. A support or resource in reserve.
5. (nautical) The keel and keelson of a ship.

6. (mining) The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
7. (slang, uncountable) Effort, usually physical.

8. A non-alcoholic drink (often water or a soft drink), to go with hard liquor or a cocktail.

9. Among leather dealers, one of the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
   • 1848, Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Maine Reports (volume 6, page 397)

     […] as delivered by a tanner the average weight of a back and two strips would be about 42 pounds […].

Synonyms

• (side opposite the visible side): reverse
• (rear of the body): dorsum

Hyponyms

• (lower rear of the body): See Thesaurus:buttocks

Antonyms

• (side opposite the front or useful side): front
• (that which is farthest away from the front): front

Coordinate terms

• (non-alcoholic drink): chaser

Derived terms

• abackward
• ass backward
• have someone's back

Related terms

• bacon

Translations

Verb

back (third-person singular simple present backs, present participle backing, simple past and past participle backed)

1. (intransitive) To go in the reverse direction.
2. (transitive) To support.
3. (nautical, of the wind) To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
4. (nautical, of a square sail) To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
5. (nautical, of an anchor) To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
6. (Britain, of a hunting dog) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.
7. (transitive) To push or force backwards.

8. (transitive, obsolete) To get upon the back of; to mount.
9. (transitive, obsolete) To place or seat upon the back.
10. To make a back for; to furnish with a back.

11. To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
    • 1877, Thomas Henry Huxley, Physiography: An Introduction to the Study of Nature

      the chalk cliffs which back the beach

    • So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

12. To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement.

13. (law, of a justice of the peace) To sign or endorse (a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender).
14. To row backward with (oars).

Antonyms

• (nautical: of the wind): veer

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French bac.

Noun

back (plural backs)

1. A large shallow vat; a cistern, tub, or trough, used by brewers, distillers, dyers, picklers, gluemakers, and others, for mixing or cooling wort, holding water, hot glue, etc.
2. A ferryboat.

Translations

Czech

Alternative forms

• bek

Etymology

Borrowed from English back.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?b?k]
• Rhymes: -?k
• Homophone: beg

Noun

back m anim

1. (sports, obsolete) back

Declension

Synonyms

• obránce
• zadák

Antonyms

• úto?ník
• forward

Noun

back m inan

1. (sports, rare) defense

Declension

Synonyms

• obrana

Antonyms

• útok

Further reading

• back in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• back in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

French

Etymology

From English back

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bak/
• Homophone: bac

Adverb

back

1. (Louisiana, Cajun French, Acadian) back

   Dis trois je vous salue Marie, et je veux point te voir icitte back à voler du plywood. — “Say three hail Maries, and I don't want to see you back here stealing plywood.”

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bak/
• Rhymes: -ak

Verb

back

1. singular imperative of backen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of backen

Middle English

Noun

back

1. Alternative form of bak (“back”)

Swedish

Etymology

From English back

Pronunciation

Noun

back c

1. crate; storage of bottles
2. back; position behind most players on the team
3. reverse; car gear

Declension