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Backing   /bˈækɪŋ/   Listen
noun
Backing  n.  
1.
The act of moving backward, or of putting or moving anything backward.
2.
That which is behind, and forms the back of, anything, usually giving strength or stability.
3.
Support or aid given to a person or cause.
4.
(Bookbinding) The preparation of the back of a book with glue, etc., before putting on the cover.


verb
Back  v. t.  (past & past part. backed; pres. part. backing)  
1.
To get upon the back of; to mount. "I will back him (a horse) straight."
2.
To place or seat upon the back. (R.) "Great Jupiter, upon his eagle backed, Appeared to me."
3.
To drive or force backward; to cause to retreat or recede; as, to back oxen.
4.
To make a back for; to furnish with a back; as, to back books.
5.
To adjoin behind; to be at the back of. "A garden... with a vineyard backed." "The chalk cliffs which back the beach."
6.
To write upon the back of; as, to back a letter; to indorse; as, to back a note or legal document.
7.
To support; to maintain; to second or strengthen by aid or influence; as, to back a friend. "The Parliament would be backed by the people." "Have still found it necessary to back and fortify their laws with rewards and punishments." "The mate backed the captain manfully."
8.
To bet on the success of; as, to back a race horse.
To back an anchor (Naut.), to lay down a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one.
To back the field, in horse racing, to bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated "the field", will win.
To back the oars, to row backward with the oars.
To back a rope, to put on a preventer.
To back the sails, to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern.
To back up, to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends.
To back a warrant (Law), is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender.
To back water (Naut.), to reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward.


Back  v. i.  
1.
To move or go backward; as, the horse refuses to back.
2.
(Naut.) To change from one quarter to another by a course opposite to that of the sun; used of the wind.
3.
(Sporting) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed; said of a dog. (Eng.)
To back and fill, to manage the sails of a ship so that the wind strikes them alternately in front and behind, in order to keep the ship in the middle of a river or channel while the current or tide carries the vessel against the wind. Hence: (Fig.) To take opposite positions alternately; to assert and deny. (Colloq.)
To back out, To back down, to retreat or withdraw from a promise, engagement, or contest; to recede. (Colloq.) "Cleon at first... was willing to go; but, finding that he (Nicias) was in earnest, he tried to back out."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Backing" Quotes from Famous Books



... hundreds of cars choked the tracks; loaded freight trains stalled in the confusion, trains piled with ammunition and provisions, trains crowded with horses and cattle and sheep, filling the air with melancholy plaints; locomotives backing and whistling, locomotives blowing off deafening blasts of steam; gongs sounding, bells ringing, station-masters' trumpets blowing; and, above all, the immense clamor of ...
— The Maids of Paradise • Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
... drive on until he should find a suitable hiding place. And at a spot, as he presently learned, not a hundred yards from Hillside, he discovered an opening in the hedge which divided the road from a tilled field. Into this, without hesitation, he turned the racer, backing in, in order that he might be ready for a flying start in case of emergency. Once more he set out ...
— Fire-Tongue • Sax Rohmer
... quarrying was over—the blasting and drilling, the creaking of the great cranes, the shouts of the foremen, the backing and shifting of the flat-cars hauling the heavy blocks of limestone. Down in the hotel office three or four of the labourers were growling and swearing over a belated game of checkers. Heavy odours of stewed meat, hot grease, and cheap ...
— Heart of the West • O. Henry
... porch. Mark had eaten his apple sauce and gone. He passed Browns, Todds, Bateses, chasing a white hen that had somehow escaped her confines, but in front of Joneses he suddenly became aware of the blue car that stood in front of the parsonage. It had come to life and was throbbing. It was backing toward him and going to turn around. On the sidewalk leaning on a cane stood the obnoxious stranger for whose presence in Sabbath Valley he, Billy Gaston, was responsible. He lounged at ease with a smile on his ugly mug and acted as if he lived there! There was nothing about ...
— The City of Fire • Grace Livingston Hill
... it, and went tottering up to the huge animal, that towered above him like the side of a canyon, apparently much to the latter's embarrassment. The steer eyed it carefully, and lifted his legs out of the way as the lamb ran against them, even backing a little, as if as surprised as I had been when the ewes assaulted me. Then all of a sudden he shook his head as if laughing, put one horn under the lamb, threw it about six feet over his back, and calmly walked on. I took it for granted that the unwary lamb was dead, but on going up I found ...
— A Tramp's Notebook • Morley Roberts


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