Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

back|bit|ing /bæ kba I t I ŋ/ N‑UNCOUNT If you accuse someone of backbiting , you mean that they say unpleasant or unkind things about someone who is not present, especially in order to stop them doing well at work. [DISAPPROVAL ]

back|bone /bæ kboʊn/ (backbones )

1 N‑COUNT Your backbone is the column of small linked bones down the middle of your back.

2 N‑SING [usu with poss] The backbone of an organization or system is the part of it that gives it its main strength. □ [+ of ] Small businesses are the economic backbone of this country.

ba ck-breaking also backbreaking ADJ [usu ADJ n] Back-breaking work involves a lot of hard physical effort.

ba ck burn|er also backburner N‑SING If you put an issue on the back burner , you leave it in order to deal with it later because you now consider it to have become less urgent or important. □  Many speculated that the U.S. would put the peace process on the back burner.

ba ck ca ta|logue (back catalogues ) N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] A musical performer's back catalogue is the music which they recorded and released in the past rather than their latest recordings.

back|cloth /bæ kklɒθ, [AM ] -klɔːθ/ (backcloths )

1 N‑COUNT A backcloth is a large piece of cloth, often with scenery or buildings painted on it, that is hung at the back of a stage while a play is being performed. [BRIT ] in AM, use backdrop 2 N‑SING The backcloth of an event is the general situation in which it happens. [BRIT , JOURNALISM , LITERARY ] □ [+ of ] …the promise of tax cuts against the backcloth of a public-spending deficit.

ba ck co py (back copies ) N‑COUNT A back copy of a magazine or newspaper is the same as a back issue .

ba ck coun|try also backcountry N‑SING The back country is an area that is a long way from any city and has very few people living in it. [AM ] □  They have moved deep into the back country.

back|date /bæ kde I t/ (backdates , backdating , backdated ) also back-date VERB If a document or an arrangement is backdated , it is valid from a date before the date when it is completed or signed. □ [be V -ed + to ] The contract that was signed on Thursday morning was backdated to March 11. □ [V n + to ] Anyone who has overpaid tax will be able to backdate their claim to last April. [Also V n]

back|door /bæ kdɔː ^r / also back door

1 ADJ [ADJ n] You can use backdoor to describe an action or process if you disapprove of it because you think it has been done in a secret, indirect, or dishonest way. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  He did the backdoor deals that allowed the government to get its budget through Parliament on time. □  He brushed aside talk of greedy MPs voting themselves a backdoor pay rise.

2 N‑SING If you say that someone is doing something through or by the backdoor , you disapprove of them because they are doing it in a secret, indirect, or dishonest way. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  Dentists claim the Government is privatising dentistry through the back door.

back|drop /bæ kdrɒp/ (backdrops )

1 N‑COUNT A backdrop is a large piece of cloth, often with scenery painted on it, that is hung at the back of a stage while a play is being performed.

2 N‑COUNT The backdrop to an object or a scene is what you see behind it. □  Leeds Castle will provide a dramatic backdrop to a fireworks display next Saturday.

3 N‑COUNT The backdrop to an event is the general situation in which it happens. □  The election will take place against a backdrop of increasing instability.

back|er /bæ kə ^r / (backers ) N‑COUNT A backer is someone who helps or supports a project, organization, or person, often by giving or lending money. □  I was looking for a backer to assist me in the attempted buy-out.