Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

back|fire /bæ kfa I ə ^r , [AM ] -fa I r/ (backfires , backfiring , backfired )

1 VERB If a plan or project backfires , it has the opposite result to the one that was intended. □ [V ] The President's tactics could backfire. □ [V + on/against ] It all backfired on me!

2 VERB When a motor vehicle or its engine backfires , it produces an explosion in the exhaust pipe. □ [V ] The car backfired.

back|gam|mon /bæ kgæmən/ N‑UNCOUNT Backgammon is a game for two people, played on a board marked with long triangles. Each player has 15 wooden or plastic discs. The players throw dice and move the discs around the board.

back|ground ◆◇◇ /bæ kgraʊnd/ (backgrounds )

1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] Your background is the kind of family you come from and the kind of education you have had. It can also refer to such things as your social and racial origins, your financial status, or the type of work experience that you have. □  She came from a working-class background. □  His background was in engineering.

2 N‑COUNT [usu sing, oft against N ] The background to an event or situation consists of the facts that explain what caused it. □  The meeting takes place against a background of continuing political violence. □  …background information.

3 N‑SING The background is sounds, such as music, which you can hear but which you are not listening to with your full attention. □  I kept hearing the sound of applause in the background. □  The background music was provided by an accordion player.

4 N‑COUNT [usu sing] You can use background to refer to the things in a picture or scene that are less noticeable or important than the main things or people in it. □  …roses patterned on a blue background. ● PHRASE Someone who stays in the background avoids being noticed, although the things that they do are important or influential. □  Rosemary likes to stay in the background. SYNONYMS background NOUN

1

upbringing:Martin's upbringing shaped his whole life.

childhood:She had a happy childhood.

nurture:The human organism learns partly by nature, partly by nurture.

2

environment:The twins were brought up in entirely different environments.

circumstances:The strategy was too dangerous in the explosive circumstances of the times.

history:He couldn't get a new job because of his medical history.

conditions:The conditions are ripe for the spread of disease.

back|hand /bæ khænd/ (backhands ) N‑VAR A backhand is a shot in tennis or squash, which you make with your arm across your body. □  She practised her backhand.

back|hand|ed /bæ khæ nd I d, [AM ] -hænd I d/ also back-handed

1 ADJ [ADJ n] A backhanded compliment is a remark which seems to be an insult but could also be understood as a compliment. A backhanded compliment is also a remark which seems to be a compliment but could also be understood as an insult. □  Saying she's improved comes over as a backhanded compliment.

2 ADJ [ADJ n] If you say that someone is doing something in a backhanded way, they are doing it indirectly. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  In a backhanded way, I think a lot of my energy and strength comes from my campaigning.

back|hand|er /bæ khændə ^r / (backhanders ) also back-hander N‑COUNT A backhander is an amount of money that is illegally paid to someone in a position of authority in order to encourage them to do something. [BRIT , INFORMAL ]

back|ing ◆◇◇ /bæ k I ŋ/ (backings )