back meaning
EN
[bæk] [bak] [-æk] 
US 
- NounPLbacksPREback-
- The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
- Could you please scratch my back?
- I hurt my back lifting those crates.
- He got his hand on her behind and caressed her firm, ample flesh. [ …] "You got some back on you, girl."
- I still need to finish the back of your dress.
- Can you fix the back of this chair?
- Do thou but think / What 'tis to cram a maw or clothe a back / From such a filthy vice
- That which is farthest away from the front.
- He sat in the back of the room.
- Turn the book over and look at the back.
- The titles are printed on the backs of the books.
- Convenience and custom have familiarised us to the printed page being a little higher than the middle of the leaf, and to its having a little more margin at the fore edge than in the back.
- Tap it with the back of your knife.
- I hung the clothes on the back of the door.
- We'll meet out in the back of the library.
- The car was near the back of the train.
- The backs were lined up in an I formation.
- (figuratively) Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back.
- The small boat raced over the backs of the waves.
- A support or resource in reserve.
- (nautical) The keel and keelson of a ship.
- The ship's back broke in the pounding surf.
- (mining) The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
- The stope is kept full of broken ore, sufficient only being drawn to leave a working space between the floor of broken ore and the back of the stope.
- (slang, uncountable) Effort, usually physical.
- Put some back into it!
- A non-alcoholic drink (often water or a soft drink), to go with hard liquor or a cocktail.
- Could I get a martini with a water back?
- Among leather dealers, one of the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
- 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.
- A ferryboat.
- The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
- VerbSGbacksPRbackingPT, PPbacked
- (intransitive) To go in the reverse direction.
- the train backed into the station; the horse refuses to back
- (transitive) To support.
- I back you all the way; which horse are you backing in this race?
- (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.
- (nautical, of a square sail) To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
- (nautical, of an anchor) To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
- (Britain, of a hunting dog) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.
- (transitive) To push or force backwards.
- to back oxen
- The mugger backed her into a corner and demanded her wallet.
- (transitive, obsolete) To get upon the back of; to mount.
- (transitive, obsolete) To place or seat upon the back.
- To make a back for; to furnish with a back.
- to back books
- To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
- To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement.
- to back a letter; to back a note or legal document
- (law, of a justice of the peace) To sign or endorse (a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender).
- To row backward with (oars).
- to back the oars
- (intransitive) To go in the reverse direction.
- AdjectiveCOMmore backCOMfurther backSUPmost backSUPfurthest back
- (not comparable) Near the rear.
- Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
- (not comparable) Not current.
- I’d like to find a back issue of that magazine.
- (not comparable) Far from the main area.
- They took a back road.
- In arrear; overdue.
- back rent
- Moving or operating backward.
- back action
- (comparable, phonetics) Produced in the back of the mouth.
- "U" in "rude" is a back vowel.
- (not comparable) Near the rear.
- AdverbCOMmore backCOMfurther backSUPmost backSUPfurthest back
- (not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place.
- We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
- Away from the front or from an edge.
- Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path […]. It twisted and turned, [ …] and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.
- In a manner that impedes.
- Fear held him back.
- In a reciprocal manner.
- If you hurt me, I'll hurt you back.
- (not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place.
- More Examples
- Used in the Middle of Sentence
- The Indian may go off the reservation, he can steal from the whites and run back to the reservation with impunity.
- HCV is a member of Flaviviridae family and genus hepacivirus reported back in 1989.
- when I got to that old shackly brick store by the Temperance Tavern, I backed up agin the wall to have another think.
- Used in the Beginning of Sentence
- Back in the day, guys came here to be a part of a dynamic scene they moshed, smoked, maybe got konked on the head with a beer can.
- Back up your documents folder before applying the update.
- Back up the car a little, you're blocking the driveway.
- Used in the Ending of Sentence
- An American circus-goer, gazing at the tattooed man in the sideshow, relives his own past of untold centuries back.
- The opening goal, a wrister by Cal Clutterbuck over Pogge's shoulder from 30 feet out, was certainly one he'd like back.
- While others debated the proposals, he stood back.
- Used in the Middle of Sentence
Definition of back in English Dictionary
- Part-of-Speech Hierarchy
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Nouns
- Countable nouns
- Singularia tantum
- Uncountable nouns
- Uncountable nouns
- Countable nouns
- Verbs
- Ergative verbs
- Intransitive verbs
- Transitive verbs
- Ergative verbs
- Adjectives
- en background
- en backs
- en backed
- en backwards
- en backing
Source: Wiktionary
Grammatically, this word "back" is an adjective. It's also an adverb. It's also a noun, more specifically, a countable noun and a singularia tantum. It's also a verb, more specifically, an ergative verb, an intransitive verb and a transitive verb.