Behind Meaning
/bɪˈhaɪnd/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
prepAt or to the back or far side of.
prepAt or to the back or far side of., Concealed by (something serving as a facade or disguise).
Sentence Examples
I'll stand behind you if you are going to do it.
The police officer on duty sensed an elderly man coming up behind him.
She rode off down the road with the dog running behind.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The child hid ____ the large curtain to surprise his mother.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young children were hiding ____ the large wooden door in the hall.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English behinde, behinden, from Old English behindan (“on the back side of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihindan, *bihindini (“on the back side of, in the rear of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bi- + *hindō (“the hind side, back part”), equivalent to be- + hind. Compare Old Saxon bihindan (“behind”, adverb), Middle High German behinter (“behind; back”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection.
[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them."
— 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
"Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements."
— 2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:
"About the center, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed — I tethered by my rope[…]."
— 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
"For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 11:5:
"Bud Light replaces Marketing VP behind Dylan Mulvaney partnership."
— 2023, Ian Miller, OutKick:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The child hid ____ the large curtain to surprise his mother.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young children were hiding ____ the large wooden door in the hall.