Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Backed |
BackedAdjective1. Having a back or backing, usually of a specified type. 2. Having backing; "a claim backed up by strong evidence". 3. (photography; of film) coated on the side opposite the emulsion with a substance to absorb light. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "backed" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Slang in 1811 | BACKED. Dead. He wishes to have the senior, or old square-toes, backed; he longs to have his father on six men's shoulders; that is, carrying to the grave. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonym: BackedSynonym: backed up (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonym: backless (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Distortion | Adjective: distorted; Verb: out of shape, irregular, asymmetric, unsymmetric, awry, wry, askew, crooked; not true, not straight; on one side, crump, deformed; harelipped; misshapen, misbegotten; misproportioned, ill proportioned; ill-made; grotesque, monstrous, crooked as a ram's horn; camel backed, hump backed, hunch backed, bunch backed, crook backed; bandy; bandy legged, bow legged; bow kneed, knock kneed; splay footed, club footed; round shouldered; snub nosed; curtailed of one's fair proportions; stumpy; (short); gaunt; (thin); bloated; scalene; simous; taliped, talipedic. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | 'A closer look at the file and independent research by this newspaper into its key claims indicate that many of the serious accusations against Mr Wigand are backed by scant or contradictory evidence' (The Insider; writing credit: Eric Roth) You never backed away from anything in your life (The Abyss; writing credit: James Cameron) | |
Lyrics | And you were the one they backed up to (All Those Years Ago; performing artist: George Harrison) She's unavoidable, I'm backed against the wall (SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE; performing artist: Robert Palmer) | |
Clever | I Haven't Lost My Mind, It's Backed Up On Disk Somewhere. (references; author: unknown) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | Automatic Digital Recording (ADR) tide gauge Punched aluminum backed paper tape every 6 minutes with stage of tide. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. | ![]() | The great Mississippi River flood of 1927 Train backed into flooded area and boats floated off C&GS officers took part in rescue efforts. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
![]() | A Great Black Backed Gull on a piling. Obviously not scared of the owl. Credit: America's Coastlines. | Another landscape in the Agua Fria National Monument backed by the blue Arizona sky. Credit: Christine Tincher. | |
![]() | Truck backed into fence at Main Street entrance into Laboratory; 1919; {03.000/32}. | ![]() | Truckload of cabbages backed up to vegetable packing shed, Alamo, Texas. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | War housing. Lompoc trailer camp. A war housing trailer made by Western Trailer Company of Los Angeles is backed into place at a Lompoc, California project. The long, long lines of trailers are homes for war workers' families. Wooden horses are used to su. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Ithaca, New York. Interior of a shack in which a man lived for twenty-five years. His wife would not let him live with her. She was mad at him for having backed a Model T Ford over her on their honeymoon. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | "Backed to win". Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | They've got an invisible program to end an undeclared war backed by the silent majority. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Self portrait2" by Loretta Humble Commentary: "Loretta, trying to keep a straight face, backed by bath towel, photographing herself in bathroom mirror." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | This legislative is not only the supreme power of the common-wealth, but sacred and unalterable in the hands where the community have once placed it; nor can any edict of any body else, in what form soever conceived, or by what power soever backed, have the force and obligation of a law, which has not its sanction from that legislative which the public has chosen and appointed: for without this the law could not have that, which is absolutely necessary to its being a law, the consent of the society, over whom no body can have a power to make laws, but by their own consent,* and by authority received from them; and therefore all the obedience, which by the most solemn ties any one can be obliged to pay, ultimately terminates in this supreme power, and is directed by those laws which it enacts: nor can any oaths to any foreign power whatsoever, or any domestic subordinate power, discharge any member of the society from his obedience to the legislative, acting pursuant to their trust; nor oblige him to any obedience contrary to the laws so enacted, or farther than they do allow; it being ridiculous to imagine one can be tied ultimately to obey any power in the society, which is not the supreme. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | A sapper was backed up against a tall chimney, and seemed to be there as a sentinel |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | He backed away |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Customers are willing to pay considerably more for naturally treated or backed carpets. (references) | |
French buyers believe that American-made products are of high quality and are backed by reliable after-sales service. (references) | ||
Several Russian insurance companies offer such coverage backed by re-insurance provided by various European insurance companies. (references) | ||
Economic History | India | They will project a professional image, backed by well-qualified staff. (references) |
Slovenia | The currency is stable, fully convertible, and backed by substantial reserves. (references) | |
Syria | Construction of a five-star Four Seasons hotel in Damascus backed by Saudi investors is underway. (references) | |
Human Rights | East Timor | The Indonesian Attorney General announced that his office initially would prosecute five major cases arising from the 1999 violence in East Timor and for which pro-Indonesia militia groups backed by TNI forces allegedly were responsible. (references) |
Algeria | The number of such killings in connection with such clashes decreased by about 19 percent during the year compared with 2000. On March 11, security forces backed by helicopters pursued and killed seven suspected terrorists in Skikda, 316 miles east of Algiers. (references) | |
Minorities | Pakistan | Backed by crowds of 100 to 200 persons, the mullahs purportedly denounce Ahmadis and their founder, a situation that sometimes leads to violence. (references) |
Political Economy | Mauritius | This force, commanded by the Commissioner of Police, is backed by a general duty police force. (references) |
Uae | The UAE has supported the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions against Iraq and the Taliban and backed NATO actions in the Balkans. (references) | |
Niger | The National Movement for the Development of Society and the Democratic and Socialist Convention (MNSD/CDS) coalition, which backed Tandja, won 55 of the 83 seats in the National Assembly. (references) | |
Political Rights | Kenya | In August opposition M.P.'s in the National Assembly successfully blocked a constitutional amendment to establish an independent anti-corruption authority, which was backed by KANU and the President. (references) |
Niger | In the November 1999 National Assembly elections, the National Movement for the Development of Society and the Democratic and Social Convention (MNSD/CDS) coalition, which backed Tandja, won 55 of the 83 seats in the assembly. (references) | |
Kenya | The Government and police continued to harass and disrupt meetings of the MWM, an organization backed by a coalition of both opposition and dissident KANU M.P.'s that promotes opposition unity to achieve political and constitutional reform. (references) | |
Trade | Peru | FLAR's assets are backed by U.S. Treasury instruments. (references) |
Argentina | U.S. based banks are currently offering much more competitive interest rates for loans backed by an EXIM guarantee than are Argentine banks or U.S. banks based in Argentina. (references) | |
Canada | US firms exporting to Canada will not find any strong need for government-operated or backed export insurance against exigencies that may typically be found in many third-country markets. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Spain | Project Hope, a program backed by the Catholic NGO Las Adoratrices and government agencies, is the first program specifically intended to assist trafficking victims. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | MAN, n. An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earh and Canada. When the world was young and Man was new, And everything was pleasant, Distinctions Nature never drew 'Mongst kings and priest and peasant. We're not that way at present, Save here in this Republic, where We have that old regime, For all are kings, however bare Their backs, howe'er extreme Their hunger. And, indeed, each has a voice To accept the tyrant of his party's choice. A citizen who would not vote, And, therefore, was detested, Was one day with a tarry coat (With feathers backed and breasted) By patriots invested. "It is your duty," cried the crowd, "Your ballot true to cast For the man o' your choice." He humbly bowed, And explained his wicked past: "That's what I very gladly would have done, Dear patriots, but he has never run." Apperton Duke |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Mike Medavoy | The director. And most of the work that we did, we put on the director. You know, we basically backed filmmakers, and we backed people. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Backed" is generally used as a lexical verb (past participle) -- approximately 71.96% of the time. "Backed" is used about 1,788 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (past participle) | 71.96% | 1,287 | 6,139 |
| Lexical Verb (past tense) | 26.37% | 472 | 12,553 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 1.68% | 30 | 63,341 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,788 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "backed": backed bill ♦ backed stitch ♦ backed up. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "backed": backed-dated, backed-off, backed-up. | |
Ending with "backed": African-backed, american-backed, army-backed, asset-backed, bank-backed, best-backed, black-backed, chinese-backed, cia-backed, express-backed, flat-backed, foam-backed, french-backed, government-backed, green-backed, hard-backed, hump-backed, hunch-backed, imf-backed, insurance-backed, iranian-backed, israeli-backed, libyan-backed, military-backed, mortgage-backed, open-backed, sajudis-backed, saudi-backed, silver-backed, soviet-backed, state-backed, states-backed, sticky-backed, syrian-backed, un-backed, us-backed, Vietnam-backed, vietnamese-backed, well-backed, white-backed. | |
Containing "backed": black-backed gull, broken-backed hogged, command-backed-by-threats, eastern red-backed salamander, great black-backed gull, leather-backed tortoise, mortgage-backed security, red-backed lemming, red-backed mouse, red-backed sandpiper, western red-backed salamander. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "backed"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | me përkrahje. (various references) | |
Arabic | مؤيد (backer, confirming, corroborative, corroborator, proponent, supported, supporter). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | с облегалка, опрян (propped, set), подкрепен. (various references) | |
Chinese | 支持 (AEgis, Bolstered, Bolstering, egis, Seconded, Seconding, Sided, support, supported, supporting). (various references) | |
Danish | vokskacheret (wax backed), tog der er koert baglaens (backed-up train), swap daekkes af en anden swap (swap backed by another swap), roedmus (bank vole, common red backed mouse), limkacheret (glue backed), grundskuds-væv (weft backed fabric), grundkæde-væv (ground filling fabric, ground pick fabric, ground weft fabric, warp backed fabric), forskudt maske (backed stitch, racked stitch), afbarket træ (backed timber). (various references) | |
Dutch | verzetsteek (backed stitch, racked stitch), teruggezette trein (backed-up train), rosse woelmuis (bank vole, common red backed mouse), rose woelmuis (bank vole, common red backed mouse), met paraffine gecacheerd (wax backed), met lijm gecacheerd (glue backed), geschild hout (backed timber, peeled wood), door een andere swap gedekte swop (swap backed by another swap). (various references) | |
Finnish | selkäinen. (various references) | |
French | bois pelard (backed timber), train refoulé (backed-up train), tissu à fond trame (weft backed fabric), tissu à fond chaîne (warp backed fabric), swap adossé par un autre swap (swap backed by another swap), pelard (backed timber), maille chevalée (backed stitch), contrecollé à la paraffine (wax backed), contrecollé à la colle (glue backed), campagnol glaréole (bank vole, common red backed mouse). (various references) | |
German | zurückgegangen, gesichert (assured, ensured, established, firmed, fused, fuzed, protected, saving, secure, secured). (various references) | |
Greek | κάλυψη ανταλλαγής από άλλη ανταλλαγή (swap backed by another swap), συγκολημένο με παραφίνη (wax backed), συγκολλημένο με κόλλα (glue backed), γιγαντόγλαρος (great black backed gull), ξύλο παραγωγής βυρσοδεψικής ταννίνης (backed timber), μελανόγλαρος (lesser black backed gull), μίκρωτος (bank vole, common red backed mouse), ωθούμενη αμαξοστοιχία (backed-up train), χτυπητή πλέξη (backed stitch, racked stitch), ζικ-ζακ πλέξη (backed stitch, racked stitch), αρουραίος των αγρών (bank vole, common red backed mouse), αποφλοιωμένο ξύλο (backed timber). (various references) | |
Hungarian | háttal ellátott. (various references) | |
Italian | appoggiato, sostenuto. (various references) | |
Korean | 역행시키는. (various references) | |
Manx | Juan Mooar (black backed gull), cooyl-pabyragh (paper backed). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ackedbay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | tecido com duas tramas (weft backed fabric), tecido com duas teias (ground filling fabric, ground pick fabric, ground weft fabric, warp backed fabric), swap coberto por outro swap (swap backed by another swap), madeira descascada (backed timber), laçada torcida (backed stitch, racked stitch), laçada com torcimento de bancada (backed stitch, racked stitch), contracolagem com cola (glue backed), contracolagem à parafina (wax backed), comboio empurrado (backed-up train), comboio com máquina na cauda (backed-up train). (various references) | |
Russian | имеющий спинку. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | onaj koji ima potporu. (various references) | |
Spanish | RESPALDADO (protected). (various references) | |
Swedish | uppbackade (backed-up), uppbackad (backed-up), snedställd maska (backed stitch, racked stitch), skogssork (bank vole, common red backed mouse), förskjuten maska (backed stitch, racked stitch). (various references) | |
Turkish | kaplı (coated, covered, faced, lined, plated, thick with), desteklenmiş, astarlı (lined), arkası olan, arkalıklı, arka çıkılmış. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | що має спинку, підтримуваний (sustained). (various references) | |
Welsh | cefnllwm (bare-backed). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Anthus hodgsoni, Lanius collurio, Pagophilus groenlandicus, Phoridae, RM:pitgaspina brin. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Leviticus Chapter 21, Verse 20 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | H kurtoV h efhloV h ptiloV touV ofqalmouV h anqrwpoV w an h en autw ywra agria h lichn h monorciV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Si gibbus si lippus si albuginem habens in oculo si iugem scabiem si inpetiginem in corpore vel hirniosus |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | If crokid rigge, or bleer eyed; if whijt perle hauynge in the eye; if contynuel scab; if a drye scab in the body; or brosten. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Or croke backed, or perleyed, or gogeleyed, or maunge or skaulde or hath his stones broken. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Or crooked-backed, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his peculiar members broken: |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Or one whose back is bent, or one who is unnaturally small, or one who has a damaged eye, or whose skin is diseased, or whose sex parts are damaged; |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Leviticus Chapter 21, Verse 20 |
| Cebuano | Kun buktot, kun enano, kun adunay biti sa mata, kun tawo nga nukaon, kun may bon-i, kun tawo nga gituntonan; |
| Chinese | 駝 背 的 、 矮 矬 的 、 眼 睛 有 毛 病 的 、 長 癬 的 、 長 疥 的 、 或 是 損 壞 腎 子 的 、 都 不 可 近 前 來 。 |
| Croatian | ni poguren, ni kržljav, ni bolesnih oèiju, ni lišajav, ni krastav, niti uškopljenik. |
| Danish | eller en pukkelrygget eller en med Tæring eller en, der har Pletter i Øjnene eller lider af Skab eller Ringorm eller har svulne Testikler. |
| Dutch | Of die bultachtig, of dwergachtig zal zijn, of een vel op zijn oog zal hebben, of droge schurftheid, of etterige schurftheid, of die gebroken zal zijn aan zijn gemacht. |
| Finnish | kyttyräselkäinen tai surkastunut, silmävikainen tai ihotautinen tai rupinen tai kuohittu. |
| French | un homme bossu ou grêle, ayant une tache à l`oeil, la gale, une dartre, ou les testicules écrasés. |
| German | oder höckerig ist oder ein Fell auf dem Auge hat oder schielt oder den Grind oder Flechten hat oder der gebrochen ist. |
| Haitian Creole | kit li gen boul nan do, kit li rachitik, kit li malad nan je, kit li gen maladi po, kit grenn li kraze. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | yang bongkok atau cebol, yang berpenyakit mata atau berpenyakit kulit dan yang dikebiri. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | atau orang yang bungkuk, atau yang keretut, atau yang berbelalak matanya, atau yang berkurap atau berpuru atau berburut. |
| Italian | né un gobbo, né un nano, né chi abbia una macchia nell'occhio o la scabbia o piaghe purulente o sia eunuco. |
| Maori | Te tuara piko ranei, te mea i puwhenua te tupu, ki te papahewa ranei tona kanohi, ki te mea ranei he papaka, he hakihaki ranei tona, ki te mea ranei kua komurumurua ona mea; |
| Norwegian | eller som er pukkelrygget eller dverg eller har en hvit flekk på øiet eller har skabb eller noget annet utslett, eller hvis stener er knust. |
| Portuguese | ou for corcunda, ou anão, ou que tiver belida, ou sarna, ou impigens, ou que tiver testículo lesado; |
| Rumanian | nici un om ghebos sau pipernicit, cu albeayq kn ochi, care are rkie, pecingine sau bowit. |
| Russian | ОЙ ЗПТВБФЩК, ОЙ У УХИЙН ЮМЕОПН, ОЙ У ВЕМШНПН ОБ ЗМБЪХ, ОЙ ЛПТПУФПЧЩК, ОЙ РБТЫЙЧЩК, ОЙ У РПЧТЕЦДЕООЩНЙ СФТБНЙ; |
| Spanish | jorobado, enano, quien tenga nube en el ojo, quien tenga sarna o tiña, o tenga testículo dañado. |
| Swedish | ingen som är puckelryggig eller förkrympt, eller som har fel på ögat, eller som har skabb eller annat utslag, eller som är snöpt. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words ending with "backed": barebacked, crookbacked, humpbacked, hunchbacked, mossbacked, paperbacked, pickabacked, piggybacked, quarterbacked, swaybacked, switchbacked, unbacked. (additional references) | |
| |
"Backed" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Babkov, bacce, Baccio, Bachet, Bacie, backe, backet, Backett, backey, Backo, backveld, bactec, baiked, bakka, Bakke, bascket, bickel, Bicket, bracked, brcke, Buckden, gacked. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "backed" (pronounced ba"kt) |
| 3 | -a" k t | abstract, act, attacked, attract, blacked, counterattacked, cracked, impact, detract, diffract, distract, enact, exact, extract, fact, hacked, inexact, intact, interact, jacked, lacked, overreact, packed, pact, protract, racked, react, redact, reenact, repacked, retract, sacked, slacked, smacked, stacked, subtract, tacked, tact, tracked, tract, transact, unpacked, whacked, wracked. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-c-d-e-k" | |
-1 letter: baked, caked. | |
-2 letters: abed, aced, back, bade, bake, bead, beak, beck, cade, cake, dace, deck. | |
-3 letters: ace, bad, bed, cab, cad, dab, dak, deb, kab, kae, kea. | |
-4 letters: ab, ad, ae, ba, be, de, ed, ka. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-b-c-d-e-k" | |
+1 letter: blacked, dieback. | |
+2 letters: backbend, backdate, backside, blockade, diebacks, feedback, neckband, unbacked. | |
+3 letters: backbends, backdated, backdates, backfield, backfired, backpedal, backsides, backslide, barracked, bechalked, becloaked, blackened, blackhead, blacklead, blockaded, blockader, blockades, blockhead, bracketed, buckramed, feedbacks, neckbands, rudbeckia. | |
+4 letters: backfields, backfilled, backfitted, backhanded, backhander, backhauled, backlashed, backlisted, backlogged, backpacked, backpedals, backslider, backslides, backspaced, backwashed, barebacked, bivouacked, blackheads, blackleads, blockaders, blockheads, breadstick, fiddleback, humpbacked, jackbooted, mossbacked, parbuckled, rudbeckias, swaybacked. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Spoken | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Expressions 15. Expressions: Internet 16. Translations: Modern | 17. Translations: Ancient 18. Bible Trace 19. Derivations 20. Rhymes | 21. Anagrams 22. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.