back of









back of


<. In English generally, the back of (one's) hand has been used to imply contempt and rejection since at least 1300. Perhaps the connection of a menacing dismissal is what made Stevenson choose that particular anatomical reference.

v.

late 15c., “to move (something) back,” from back (adv.). Meaning “to support” (as by a bet) is first attested 1540s. Related: Backed; backing.

adj.

Middle English, from back (n.) and back (adv.). Formerly with comparative backer (c.1400), also backermore. To be on the back burner in the figurative sense is from 1960, from the image of a cook keeping a pot there to simmer while he or she works on another concoction at the front of the stove.

adv.

late 14c., shortened from abak, from Old English on bæc “backwards, behind, aback” (see back (n.)). Back and forth attested from 1814.

n.

  1. The posterior portion of the trunk of the human body between the neck and the pelvis; the dorsum.
  2. The backbone or spine.

Also, at the back of; in back of. Behind; also, supporting. For example, The special brands were stored back of the counter, or “Franklin stood back of me in everything I wanted to do” (Eleanor Roosevelt, quoted by Catherine Drinker Bowen, Atlantic Monthly, March 1970). The first term, dating from the late 1600s, was long criticized as an undesirable colloquialism but today is generally considered acceptable. The variants, at the back of, from about 1400, and in back of, from the early 1900s, also can be used both literally and figuratively and could be substituted for back of in either example. Also see back of beyond.

In addition to the idioms beginning with back

  • back against the wall
  • back alley
  • back and fill
  • back and forth
  • back away
  • back burner, on a
  • back door
  • back down
  • back in circulation
  • back in harness
  • back number
  • back of
  • back of beyond
  • back off
  • back of one’s hand
  • back of one’s mind
  • back on one’s feet
  • back order
  • back out
  • back street
  • back the wrong horse
  • back to back
  • back to basics
  • back to the drawing board
  • back to the salt mines
  • back to the wall
  • back up
  • back water

also see:

  • a while back
  • behind someone’s back
  • break one’s back
  • break the back of
  • call back
  • choke back
  • come back
  • cut back
  • double back
  • draw back
  • drop back
  • eyes in the back of one’s head
  • fall back
  • fall back on
  • fall over (backward)
  • flat on one’s back
  • from way back
  • get back
  • get one’s back up
  • give the shirt off one’s back
  • go back on one’s word
  • hang back
  • hark(en) back
  • hold back
  • in one’s own backyard
  • kick back
  • knock back
  • know like a book (the back of one’s hand)
  • left-handed (back-handed) compliment
  • like water off a duck’s back
  • look back
  • monkey on one’s back
  • off someone’s back
  • pat on the back
  • pay back in someone’s own coin
  • pin someone’s ears back
  • play back
  • plow back
  • pull back
  • put one’s back in it
  • put one’s back up
  • roll back
  • scratch someone’s back
  • see the back of
  • set back
  • set back on one’s heels
  • set one back
  • set the clock back
  • sit back
  • slap on the back
  • snap back
  • stab in the back
  • take aback
  • take a back seat
  • take back
  • talk back
  • think back
  • throw back
  • turn back
  • turn one’s back on
  • when someone’s back is turned
  • with one arm tied behind one’s back
  • you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours
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