back

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   in or to or toward a past time

   set the clocks back an hour

2. 2
   adv

   at or to or toward the back or rear

   They moved back to distance themselves from the cameras down front.

3. 3
   adv

   in repayment or retaliation

   we paid back everything we had borrowed

4. 4
   adv

   in or to or toward a former location

   They went back to their parents' house.

5. 5
   adv

   in or to or toward an original condition

   The dog went back to sleep.

6. 6
   adv

   in reply to

   They wrote back three days later.

7. 7
   noun

   a support that you can lean against while sitting

   the back of the dental chair was adjustable

8. 8
   noun

   the part of a garment that covers the back of your body

   They pinned a 'kick me' sign on the new kid's back.

Etymology

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]”).