Back Meaning
/bæk/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjAt or near the rear.
adjReturned or restored to a previous place or condition.
Sentence Examples
I will be back soon.
I'll call them tomorrow when I come back.
He was lying on his back on the sofa.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He had to ____ his car out of the narrow driveway very carefully.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He hurt his ____ while he was trying to lift the heavy box today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-der.? Proto-Germanic *baką Proto-West Germanic *bak Old English bæc Middle English bak English back From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *baką, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to bend”). 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]”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Several of the former Hotel York workers have filed with the California Labor Division to collect what they feel is owed them in the way of back overtime."
— 1980 December 20, David Lamble, “Workers, Owners Battle It Out At SF Gay Hotel”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 22, page 9:
"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."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away."
— 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
"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."
— 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He had to ____ his car out of the narrow driveway very carefully.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He hurt his ____ while he was trying to lift the heavy box today.