BACKLOG • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Backlog

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/bˈæklˌɑg/ /bˈæklˌɔg/ Listen

noun

Backlog n.

A large stick of wood, forming the back of a fire on the hearth. Contrasted to forestick. (U.S.) "There was first a backlog, from fifteen to four and twenty inches in diameter and five feet long, imbedded in the ashes."

An accumulation (of tasks or of materials) that were not performed or processed at the normal time and require attention; as, unexpected demand led to a large backlog of unfilled orders; politically motivated delays led to a large backlog of unconfirmed judicial appointments.

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Etymology of 'Backlog'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Backlog" Quotes from Famous Books

... many persons of the present day to be told that the "backlog" of which we read so much in old-time stories was a large stone, a porous stone being preferred if possible. This stone was buried in the ashes, and on top was placed the "back stick." The back stone in those primitive ...

— Golden Days for Boys and Girls - Volume VIII, No 25: May 21, 1887 • Various

... extraordinary demand will subside. It will be years before we catch up with the demand for housing. The extraordinary demand for other durable goods, for the replenishment of inventories, and for exports may be satisfied earlier. No backlog of demand can exist very long in the face of our tremendous productive capacity. We must expect again to face the problem of shrinking demand and consequent slackening in sales, production, and employment. This possibility of a deflationary spiral in the future will exist ...

— Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present • Various

... swinging crane. A skillet and a gridiron stood against the jamb on one side, a hoe for baking hoe cakes and a little wrought-iron trivet were in order on the other. The breakfast fire had burned out; only the great backlog, hoary with gray ashes, lay slumbering at the back of the fireplace. The planter poked the drift of ashes between the andirons with a green oak stick until he saw a live coal shining red in the gray about it. This he rolled out upon the hearth, ...

— Duffels • Edward Eggleston

... have to stay on Earth. And now I'd better get back to the games parlor—I can't waste any time, you know. Not with a seven thousand credit backlog to make up." ...

— Starman's Quest • Robert Silverberg

... cracked with the billet of wood will tell the tale. You once suspected me of truantry from your charms—Quedo, quedo! exacting dame—and the pale offspring of poor Hagar you threw upon the blazing backlog, and grimly watched it burn. The pursued children whose cries you could not still, that yet are stilled till hell shall have a voice, not even you can number. Evangelists, O Patty, dipping their pens in blood of saints to ...

— The Entailed Hat - Or, Patty Cannon's Times • George Alfred Townsend