back-actionn.
Originally U.S.
Backward or reverse action, as in a machine. Also attributive and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [adjective] > operating backwards
back-action1845
back-actioned1875
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > [noun] > reverse action
back-action1845
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > types of machine generally > [adjective] > operating backwards
retroactive1706
retrograde1797
back-action1845
1845 Knickerbocker 25 406 There lurks beneath it [sc. the Yankee countenance] the knowledge of..some ‘self-acting back-action sausage-stuffer’.
1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. iii. i. 99 The self-cockin', back-action style o' J. D.
1872 E. Eggleston End of World xvi. 111 She's told paytent [= patent] double-back-action lies that worked both ways.
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West 800 That sort of detraction has an awkward back-action about it.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 205/2 Back-action Steam-engine.
1934 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Jan. 267 By ‘back action’ is meant the alleged fact that the conditions which follow an act affect the bond or connection responsible for the act.
1963 J. Osborne Dental Mech. (ed. 5) x. 204 Back action clasps will be used on premolars.
Derivatives
back-actioned adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [adjective] > operating backwards
back-action1845
back-actioned1875
1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 12) i. i. xi. §1 The back-actioned lock does not speak so well as the old bar-lock.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1845