| 释义 |
▪ I. backward, adv., a., n.|ˈbækwəd|
Forms: 4–6 bak-, bac-, backward(e, 5 bakeword, 6 bacewarde, (Sc. bakwart), 6–7 backeward, 6– backward.
[orig. aphetic form of aback-ward; but subseq. referred directly to back: see -ward. Primarily abackward differed from aback, in expressing direction rather than completed motion; and this still to some extent distinguishes backward from back.]
A. adv.
I. Towards one's back, or the back of anything.
1. a. Of motion: In the direction of one's back or of that to which one's back is turned, as to lean backward, bend backward, fall backward, push backward, be pushed backward backward.
1330R. Brunne Chron. 190 He smote him in the helm, bakwarde he bare his stroupe. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxvi. (1495) 456 By vyolente puttynge of ayre bakward the body of the byrde meuyth forwarde. c1400Destr. Troy xv. 6636 Bold men bakward borne of hor horses. 1535Coverdale 1 Sam. iv. 18 He fell downe bacwarde from the seate..and brake his neck. 1697Dryden Virg., Georg. iii. 174 Clouds of Sand arise, Spurn'd, and cast backward on the Follower's Eyes. 1797Holcroft Stolberg's Trav. II. lx. 362 Short horns bent backward. 1813Examiner 29 Mar. 207/1 The bending of the back bone, backward and forward. 1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 22 Bending backward or forward is not to be permitted.
b. With verbs of continuous motion, as go backward, walk backward, ride backward, this passes from simple direction, into a description of the constant position of the body in relation to the varying direction of motion; = With the back foremost, with the face to the rear.
a1300Cursor M. 2042 A mantil on his nec he tok & bakward ȝod, als sais þe bok. 1388Wyclif Gen. ix. 23 Sem and Jafeth..ȝeden bacward. 1561Calvin's 4 Godlye Serm. iv, Like kicking and resty horses, more ready to go backwarde than forward. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 206 If like a Crab you could go backward. 1726Vanbr. & Cibber Prov. Husb. i. i. (1735) 30 Doll puked a little with riding backward. 1842J. H. Newman Par. Serm. V. viii. 124 We walk to heaven backward. 1850Lytton My Novel ii. xii, He turned sharply round..and, with his arm still folded on his breast, he walked backward, as if not to lose the view.
c. to go backward: to retire for a necessary purpose (hence said of the action). Obs.
1748Smollett Rod. Rand. (1804) I. xi. 59 My companion's bowels being disordered he got up in order to go backward. 1771J. S. Le Dran's Obs. Surg. 185 The Patient..went backward immediately. Ibid. 210 No Discharge backward.
†2. Of position: With the back towards the front, the company, centre of attention, etc. Obs.
c1460Bk. Curtasye in Babees Bk. (1868) 302 Ne bacwarde sittande gyf noȝt þy cupe.
†3. Of position: Toward the back or rear of a place; away from the front. arch. or Obs.; commonly back, to the back, at the back.
c1460Towneley Myst. 204 Whi stand ye so bakward? 1673Wycherley Gentl. Danc. M. i. i. (1735) 12 You know my Chamber is backward, and has a door into the Gallery. 1715Lond. Gaz. No. 5328/4 A small Scar lying backward under one of his Jaws. 1716–8Lady Montague Lett. 36 I. 137 The women's apartments are always built backward, removed from sight. 1729Desaguliers in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 202 If the Pulley be set backwarder still. 1812Examiner 19 Oct. 672/2 Some injury is also done backward.
II. Towards what is behind in position or course.
4. In the direction which, so far as concerns one's general or ordinary position, is behind one, or from which one is moving, e.g. to look, turn the head backward. arch.; commonly back, behind.
(This connects the present section with I.)
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 764 Sche loketh bakward to the lond. 1388Wyclif John xx. 14 Sche turnede bacward, and sai Jhesu stondinge. a1575Pilkington Exp. Nehemiah iv. Wks. (1842) 406 Let us..not look backward but go on forth. 1611Bible Gen. ix. 23 Shem and Iaphet..went backward [= 1 b]..and their faces were backward. 1695Ld. Preston Boeth. iii. 157 That he his Eyes shan't backward cast. 1728Young Love Fame i. (1757) 84 Men should press forward in fame's glorious chace; Nobles look backward, and so lose the race. 1855Browning in Sat. Rev. No. 4. 69 Whom else could I dare look backward for?
5. a. In the direction from which one has come, towards the place of starting, in the opposite direction from that in which one has advanced.
Not properly used of persons, animals, etc., where it would be ambiguous; e.g. a ball may roll backward, a stream flow backward, but a man after proceeding so far will begin to walk back or in the opposite direction, not backward, unless in sense 1 b. But see b.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 1525 And thou Simois..Returne backwarde to thy well. 1517R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 57 We..sumtyme sealyd bakward, sumtyme forward. Ibid. 63 We made Sayle bakward j C myle. 1535Coverdale 2 Esdras xvi. 16 Like as an arowe..returneth not bacwarde. 1589A. Munday in Arber Eng. Garner (1877) I. 206 Straightway suspected the matter: and returned backward. 1673Dryden Assignat. v. iv. Wks. 1883 IV. 464 Like some impetuous flood, which mastered once, With double force bends backward. 1802Chron. Scot. Poetry iv. Introd. 37 The hope..of the Angli began to melt and flow backward. 1827Keble Chr. Year, 1st Sund. Christmas iii, Backward force the waves of Time.
b. backward and forward: to and fro; also fig. of vacillation, uncertain speech, etc.
1581Fulke in Confer. iii. (1584) Y iij b, Euen nowe, you denied..and now you graunt it: you go backward and foreward. 1680Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 57 Goeing backward and forward in his accusation. a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 274 The Serpent wav'd his Carcase..Backward and forward. 1715Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 234 The boy went backward and forward in his story. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §237 Carried backward and forward in the yawls every tide. 1833Macaulay Mahon's War Success., Ess. (1848) II. 93 Imputations..utterly unfounded..were hurled backward and forward by the political disputants. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 2 This regular backward-and-forward movement of the great mass of water.
6. In the direction of retreat. (Commonly back.) † to go backward: to recede, retreat; to relapse, backslide (obs.).
1382Wyclif Psa. xl. 14 Be thei turned al bacward. c1400Rom. Rose 5024 The joy that is eterne, Fro which go bakward Youthe her made. 1535Coverdale Isa. i. 4 They haue prouoked the holy one of Israel vnto anger, and are gone bacward. 1611ibid. Let them be driuen backward, and put to shame. 1667Milton P.L. i. 223 The flames Drivn backward slope their pointing spires. 1821Byron Sardan. iii. i. 324 They are beaten backward from the palace.
7. fig. Towards a worse state, implying retrogression, check, etc. (More commonly back.)
1583Stanyhurst Aeneis ii. (Arb.) 55 Al things goa backward. 1601Shakes. All's Well i. i. 233 The fated skye..doth backward pull Our slow designes. a1700Dryden (J.) The work went backward, and the more he strove T'advance the suit, the further from her love. 1776Adam Smith Wealth Nat. I. i. ix. 95 It is a common..opinion that France is going backward.
8. Of time:
a. Towards the past;
b. In the past. (arch.; commonly back.)
1562Pilkington Haggeus ii. Wks. (1842) 176 He bids them look backward..whole forty years. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. v. §1 By a computation backward from ourselves. 1625Burges Pers. Tithes 55 This Statute extendeth to 40 yeares backe-ward. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 31 For any number of years backward. 1871Smiles Character xi. (1876) 305 It glorifies the present by the light it casts backward.
III. In the reverse direction or order. [Arising out of 5.]
9. a. In a direction opposite to the normal one, the reverse way; from end to beginning.
a1520Myrr. Our Ladye 295 Eua turned bacwarde spellyth aue. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 50 What is Ab speld backward with the horn on his head? 1674Playford Skill Mus. ii. 104 The first Note must be plaid with the bow drawn backward. 1839Bailey Festus (1848) 195 Rites forbid and backward-jabbered prayers. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 23 The root of the costermonger tongue..is to give the words spelt backward.
b. fig. The wrong way, perversely.
1552Lyndesay Papyngo 706 Deuotely saye..The auld Placebo bakwart. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. i. 61, I neuer yet saw man..how rarely featur'd, But she would spell him backward.
10. Phrase: to ring bells backward: to ring them beginning with the bass bell, in order to give alarm of fire or invasion, or express dismay.
c1500Adam Bel 346 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 153 There was many an oute horne in Carlyll blowen, And the belles bacewarde did they rynge. 1590R. Harvey Plain Perc. 2, I heare the bels ring backward, and the fire runne forward. 1651Cleveland Rebel Scot 5 Ring the Bells backward; I am all on fire. 1672Wild Letter 11 [They] talk'd of Bells and Bonfires; but none..durst begin, for fear they should..when the Parliament meet, be forced to ring the Bells backward. a1832Scott Bonnie Dundee, The bells are rung backward, the drums they are beat.
†11. Contrariwise, e converso, vice versa. Obs.
1607Bp. Andrewes Serm. IV. 10 All that ‘rise against,’ are ‘enemies,’ but not backward. For enemies may be such as stand on even ground.
12. With pr. pple. forming adjectives, as backward-bending, backward-curving, backward-facing, backward-gazing, backward-looking, backward-sloping.
1932Auden Orators ii. 51 He has the same backward-bending thumb that I have.
1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 142 And one intense and backward-curving frisson Seizes you. 1951Sci. News Let. 18 Aug. 102/1 Backward-facing seats for passengers in airplanes are again recommended by the U.S. Air Force as a forward step in lessening injuries in case of a crash. 1952Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. Feb. 91/1 There is no doubt that the backward-facing seat..offers ideal protection.
1896Kipling Seven Seas 57 Hedged in a backward-gazing world.
1846Whittier Reformer in Poet. Wks. (1898) 399/1 Backward-looking son of time. 1950H. J. Massingham Curious Traveller iii. 55 A few lights of experience more memorable to my backward-looking glance than others. 1962Listener 5 July 28/2 Is this nostalgic, rurally romantic, backward looking art a true reflection of Australia?
1944A. L. Rowse Eng. Spirit 245 That familiar backward-sloping hand.
B. adj. [attrib. (often elliptical) use of the adv.; but analogous to adjs. in -ward of OE. origin.]
1. In Cricket, directed to the back or rear. (a) of play or a player = back play (see back- B); (b) of a fieldsman or his position: farther from the line of the wicket than is standard practice, as backward point, the position of point when standing a little behind the line of the wicket for certain kinds of bowling.
1552Huloet, Backwarde, recuruus..retrorsus. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 48 With backward Bows the Parthians shall be there. 1844Lillywhite's Hand-Bk. Cricket 18 The length to pitch your ball depends very much upon your pace, as well as the batsman's style of forward, or backward play. 1870New Sporting Mag. Aug. 112 It was a great treat to see a forward player and a backward player in together. 1882Proper Pride ii. 145 Many regretful backward glances. 1883Loomis Treat. Astron. 18 The forward motion of a boat..gives to the banks an appearance of backward motion. 1904P. F. Warner How we recovered the Ashes ix. 189 Rhodes caught him easily at backward point. 1926Times 19 Aug. 5/2 He had Mr. Ponsford caught at backward point. 1955Times 9 May 15/1 He would certainly have benefited from a backward short leg. 1959Daily Mail 20 Feb. 10/4 The ball was turned by Cowdrey sharply to backward square leg.
fig.1860J. Young Prov. Reason 45 The last, dim..point in the backward stretch of the reason.
2. Directed in the opposite way; of or pertaining to return.
1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 38 Their backward course. 1820Keats Hyperion i. 154 With backward footing through the shade. 1870Bryant Homer I. iii. 81 And takes the backward way with trembling limbs. 1884Gt. W. Ry. Time Tables July 87 Available for Two Calendar Months for completion of the forward and backward journeys.
3. Done in the reverse way or order; reversed.
1725Pope Odyss. ii. 124 The backward labours of her faithless hand. 1726Gay Fables i. xxiii. 17 She mumbles forth her backward prayers. 1878Tait & Stewart Unseen Univ. vii. §230 When the backward process has reached this germ.
†4. Perverse, unfavourable. Obs.
1583Stanyhurst Aeneis i. (Arb.) 18 Stil crost with destenye backward. a1605Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1683) 5 Who was so glad as he, to return with this backward answer?
†5. Placed towards or at the back or rear. Obs.
1610Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 95 His forward voyce now is to speake well of his friend; his backward voice, is to vtter foule speeches. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 156 The backward Hips..in the way of an Angle for the back part of a Building. 1751Johnson Rambl. No. 171 ⁋9 A lodging in the backward garret of a mean house. 1819Crabbe T. of Hall vii. 572 ‘He..lodges here—he has the backward rooms.’
6. a. Turning or hanging back from action; disinclined to advance or make advances; reluctant, averse, unwilling, loath, chary; shy, bashful.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. iii. 72 Perish the man, whose mind is backward now. 1673Cradock Knowl. & Pract. i. ii. §2 Prone to evil, and backward to good. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 510 Take pains with your backward hearts to bring them to it. 1704Swift T. Tub xi. Wks. 1760 I. 123 The females were nothing backwarder in beholding. 1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 77 The..nobility were not backward with presents of the same nature. 1782Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. i. 13 The apostles were never backward to combat other Jewish prejudices. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey i. i. 2 Percy Metcalfe..was quite as backward as Vivian; indeed, backwarder.
b. backward in coming forward, reluctant, shy (to do something). Cf. come v. 58.
1830Fraser's Mag. I. 295 Mr. Hogg..never has been..very backward in coming forward. 1833Dickens Let. ? 10 Dec. (1965) 33 They are ‘rather backward in coming forward’ with the needful. 1862Trollope Orley F. II. xxxvii. 291, I must say you're rather backward in coming forward. 1955L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman xxxii. 293 He's not usually backward in coming forward, is he?
7. a. Behindhand in respect of time or progress, late.
1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 15 Which will occasion the French to be 6 weeks backwarder in their preparations. 1777Hume Ess. & Treat. II. 43 A very backward scholar. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain §1. 21 The inns of Spain are in that backward state in which those of Sicily are. 1871W. Markby Elem. Law §530 The law is here certainly in a backward condition. 1883tr. Renan's Recoll. Youth 24 If a child was backward in learning to walk.
b. esp. of the season or crops.
1616Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 28 The yeare will proue backward. 1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 8 Harvest..is extremely backward this year. 1812Examiner 5 Oct. 629/2 Turnips, a fair crop, although backward. 1836Athenæum No. 440. 241 The season though somewhat backward promises an abundant harvest.
8. Reaching into the past.
c1650Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 401 A tax backward, to be paid over again. 1725Pope Odyss. iii. 122 Far as thy mind thro' backward time can see. 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. xxiv. Each backward year.
9. backward scattering = back scattering.
1938R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) iii. 47 With β-rays..an appreciable fraction of the β-particles is scattered in the backward direction; in fact..the number of electrons emitted..falls off because of this process of backward scattering. 1962Gloss. Terms Nuclear Sci. (B.S.I.) 12 Backward scattering, the deflexion of particles or of radiation by scattering processes through angles greater than 90° to the original direction of motion.
C. n. [The adj. or adv. used absolutely.]
†1. lit. The hinder part of the body. Obs.
1627Massinger Gt. Dk. Flor. ii. i, I should Have kissed her backward.
2. poet. The past portion (of time).
1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 50 What see'st thou else In the dark backward and abisme of Time? 1870Lowell Study Wind. 91 One volume of contemporary memoirs..will throw more light into the dark backward of time than, etc.
▪ II. ˈbackward, v. Obs. exc. dial.
Also dial. backard.
[f. backward a. Cf. to forward.]
1. To put or keep back, delay, retard. Hence backwarding vbl. n., the action of going backward; phr. backwarding and forwarding, ‘to-ing and fro-ing’.
1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 3 Whereby he did greatly backward the tree in his bearing. 1642Declar. Lords & Comm. 16 Nov. 4 To hinder or backward the said former undertakings. a1660Hammond Serm. xv. (R.) One that doth so clog and trash, so disadvantage and backward us. 1765Museum Rusticum III. xlix. 208 It [the cutting-down of the first growth] seems therefore a backwarding of the growth of the hedge several years for no advantage. 1873M. E. Braddon L. Davoren III. xiv. 39 As long as she do fret and werrit herself so, she'll keep backarding of her recovery. 1892Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker x. 167 And now, after all this backwarding and forwarding, and that hotel clerk, and that bug Bellairs, it'll be a change..to see the schooner.
†2. To send back, return. Obs.
1789E. Sheridan Jrnl. 28 Feb. (1960) 151 The enclosures which to use your own phrase I backward to you. |