saddlebackn.adj.adv.
/ˈsad(ə)lbak/, U.S. /ˈsæd(ə)lˌbæk/ A. n.
I. Something with a curved or sloping back, and related uses.† 1. Archery. A saddle-backed feather (see saddle-backed adj. 1). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > archery > [noun] > target arrow > parts of
saddleback1545
footing1856
crest1929
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 18 The swyne backed fashion..gathereth more ayer than the saddle backed, & therfore the saddle backe is surer for daunger of wether.
2. A back (of a horse or other animal) having a depression in the middle; an animal with such a back. Cf. saddle-backed adj. 2. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [noun] > back > having a depression
saddleback1625
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes ii. 1694 Certaine beasts..much like unto a Deere, hauing a Saddle-backe like unto a Camell.
a1774 C. Read in C. R. Woodward Ploughs & Politicks (1941) ii. iii. 355 The Bantam that is ye West India Shortlegged Saddleback breed best Sows.
1989 G. Clarke Letting in Rumour 20 The roof sags like the saddleback of a broken mare.
3. † c. Mining. A depression in strata, esp. one that results in a constriction in a coal seam. Obsolete.
a. A hill, rock outcrop, etc., with evenly sloping sides either side of a ridge, esp. where the ridge rises towards each end so as to produce a concavely curved outline reminiscent of a saddle. Cf. saddle-backed adj. 1. [Earlier in place names:]
1770 A. Young Six Months Tour N. Eng. III. xvii. 157 Another view from off this hill is on to a mountain's side, which presents to the eye a swelling slope of turf, and over it Saddleback rises in a noble stile.
1792 J. Belknap Hist. New-Hampsh. III. 32 The first ridge is continued through the towns of Rochester, Barrington and Nottingham, and the several summits are distinguished by different names, as Teneriffe, Saddleback, Tuckaway &c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun] > saddle-backed
saddle hill1720
saddleback1804
1804 S. T. Coleridge Let. 16 Apr. (1956) II. 1125 The high Hills are saddle-backed... To me the Saddle-back is a pleasant form.
1865 J. F. Campbell Frost & Fire II. xxix. 36 The hill-top is a boggy rolling plateau, with low rocky saddlebacks peering up through black moss.
1869 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 289 A saddleback is usually healthy..so are positions near the top of a slope.
1907 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 247 A regular saddleback of grey Silurian blocks the wayfarers path.
1965 H. de S. Shortt Old Sarum, Wilts. (1988) 5/2 The area of the saddleback where the Roman roads met.
1988 D. Ing in L. Niven et al. Man-Kzin Wars (1989) 212 Locklear aimed for a saddleback only a thousand meters high.
2007 Connecticut Post (Nexis) 4 Apr. The plane flew over rising terrain, along a saddleback, and struck a stand of old-growth trees jutting above some younger trees.
b. Geology. An anticlinal fold. Cf. saddle n.1 5b. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > fold or dip > [noun]
folda1250
siddle1849
plication1859
saddleback1865
1865 D. Page Handbk. Geol. Terms (ed. 2) 88 Anticlinal, applied to strata which dip on opposite directions from a common ridge or axis, like the roof of a house, and form what is termed an ‘anticline’ or ‘saddle-back’.
1878 G. A. Lebour Outl. Geol. Northumberland ii. 4 One long fold..was brought about in the southern district from the Cheviot to the Tyne... This was a long low-arched saddle-back or anticlinal, the result of which was that only to the East of it did the beds still dip to the sea.
1920 J. Geikie Struct. & Field Geol. (ed. 4) 137 When the strata dip away from the axial plane on either side at approximately the same angle, the structure is known as an Anticline or Saddleback.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > depression
underlie1778
underlying1778
underlaying1802
swelly1849
saddleback1883
slew1883
underlay1883
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Saddleback, a depression or valley in strata.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Saddle-back, a balk or species of hitch in the coal strata; described as the roof of the seam coming down into the coal without any corresponding depression of the thill, thus causing a nip.
4. Architecture. A steeply pitched roof (esp. of a tower), having gables at two opposite sides connected by a ridge. Cf. sense B. 1a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > roof > [noun] > types of roof generally
vaulta1387
plat-roofa1425
pend1454
faunsere1460
compassed roofa1552
terrace1572
sotie1578
crown1588
arch-roof1594
arch1609
under-roof1611
concameration1644
voltoa1660
hip roof1663
French roof1669
oversail1673
jerkinhead1703
mansard1704
curb-roof1733
shed roof1736
gable roof1759
gambrel roof1761
living roof1792
pent roof1794
span-roof1823
wagon-head1823
azotea1824
rafter roof1825
rooflet1825
wagon-vault1835
bell-roof1842
spire-roof1842
cradle-roof1845
packsaddle roof1845
open roof1847
umbrella roof1847
gambrel1848
packsaddle1848
compass-roof1849
saddleback1849
saddle roof1850
curbed roof1866
wagon-roof1866
saw-tooth roof1900
trough roof1905
skillion roof1911
north-light roof1923
shell roof1954
green roof1984
knee-roof-
1849 E. A. Freeman Hist. Archit. 238 The gabled tower..does not seem to occur; but we meet with the form usually called a saddle-back.
1861 A. Beresford-Hope Eng. Cathedral of 19th Cent. 243 The due and moderate use of the gabled tower of the German style..may be adopted,..so too may the saddle~back.
1893 C. Hodges in Reliquary Jan. 15 The finish of the tower was what is generally known as a saddle-back, a form common in Normandy, but rare in England.
1979 N. Pevsner Nottinghamshire 229 Saddleback: tower roof shaped like an ordinary gabled timber roof.
II. In the names of various birds, mammals, and other animals esp. those having saddle-like markings.† 9. A kind of oyster: (a) (apparently) = saddle rock oyster at saddle n.1 Compounds 4; (b) (perhaps) = saddle oyster n. at saddle n.1 Compounds 4. Obsolete. rare.
5. A black-backed gull; esp. the great black-backed gull, Larus marinus. More fully saddleback gull.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Laridae (gulls and terns) > [noun] > member of genus Larus (gull) > larus marinus (blackback)
swartbacka1525
gull-mawc1550
cob1574
blackback1676
wagel1676
saddleback1770
blackback gull1783
swabie1821
parson gull1849
minister1925
1770 G. Cartwright Jrnl. Resid. Coast Labrador 2 Oct. (1792) I. 40 They returned with three shellbirds and a saddleback.
1844 J. P. Giraud Birds Long Island 362 The Black-backed or ‘Saddle Back Gull’, is said to be an inhabitant of various parts of the northern shores of the American continent.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 208 Greater black-backed gull... From its black back are derived the names..Saddleback (Norfolk; Lancashire). Greater saddleback (Ireland).
1932 J. Barbour Forty-eight Days Adrift vi. 61 A ‘saddleback’ coming towards us..was a good sign we were getting near land.
1973 Evening Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) 10 Oct. 3 They may say the Newfoundland people..will glutch down more than a saddleback gull without gagging.
6. The harp seal, Pagophilus (or Phoca) groenlandicus; spec. the adult. More fully saddleback seal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Pinnipedia (seal, sea lion, or walrus) > [noun] > family Phocidae > genus phoca > phoca groenlandica (harp-seal)
bedlamer1773
harp-seal1784
saddleback1856
saddler1873
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. ii. 22 The valued furs of the saddle-back seal.
1896 R. Lydekker Brit. Mammals 156 It is not till the third year that the males (then called ‘Saddle-backs’) assume the characteristic dark harp-shaped markings.
1925 Geogr. Jrnl. 66 463 A large part of the book is occupied with an account of the habits of the saddleback or Greenland seal.
1966 S. Ben-dor Makkovik 38 The saddleback seal..is commonly known to the sealers as a ‘bedlamer’ in its young stage and ‘harp’ in its later years.
7. English regional. The hooded crow, Corvus corone cornix. More fully saddleback crow. Cf. saddle-backed crow n. at saddle-backed adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun] > genus Corvus > corvus cornix (hooded crow)
hooded crow?a1513
Royston crow1611
pied crow1648
scarecrow1676
grey crow1715
hoodie1789
Harry Denchman18..
hoodie-crow1816
bunting crow1831
Norway crow1848
saddleback1864
greyback1884
Kentish crow1893
sparrow-duck1895
1864 J. C. Atkinson List Provinc. Names Birds Saddleback Crow..Hooded Crow. Corvus cornix.
1895 P. H. Emerson Birds, Beasts, & Fishes Norfolk Broadland xlix. 140 A useful bird is the handsome but sluggish ‘saddle-back’.
8. A rare New Zealand wattlebird, Philesturnus carunculatus (family Callaeidae), found on some offshore islands, the male of which is black with a chestnut saddle and rump.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > [noun] > family Callaeidae > other types of
huia1845
saddleback1868
1868 W. Buller Ess. Ornithol. in Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1868 (1869) 1 5 The Saddle-back (Creadion carunculatus) of the North is represented in the South by C. Cinereus, a closely allied species.
1966 Weekly News (Auckland) 1 June 17/1 A pair of saddlebacks point like hunting dogs... They snap from one rigid position to another, head down, tail erect, wattles a blood crimson, the fragmented sunlight burnishing the chestnut saddle on their backs.
1988 BioScience 38 254/3 Translocation has probably saved from extinction the saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus), a nearly flightless, starlinglike passerine bird.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Ostreidae > anomia ephippium
saddle oyster1761
saddle1815
saddleback1871
1871 J. Macaulay Across Ferry 108 [They tell of Thackeray that,] on his first arrival, a dish of large ‘saddlebacks’ was set before him.
1876 Weale's Dict. Terms Saddle-backs, in fishery, a name given to a bastard kind of oyster by the fishers; they are considered unfit for human food.
10. A variety of the domestic goose, Anser anser, having dark feathers on the back. More fully saddleback goose. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > [noun] > member of subfamily Anserinea (goose) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
quink1550
rin goose1639
wavey1705
snow-goose1771
bean-goose1776
Ross's goose1873
bar-head goose1879
saddleback1885
1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 647/1 The most important breeds [of goose] are..the common variety frequently marked with dark feathers on the back, and hence termed ‘saddlebacks’.
1913 J. H. Robinson Our Domest. Birds viii. 161 The Pomeranian Goose, found throughout Germany and Southeastern Europe, is somewhat larger... Because of the peculiar markings of the male this variety is sometimes called the Saddleback Goose.
11. The larva of the moth Sibine stimulea (family Limacodidae), of the eastern United States, which has a green back with a dark oval patch and fleshy lobes bearing stinging hairs (more fully saddleback caterpillar); (also) the moth itself, which has dark reddish-brown forewings.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Limacodidae Eucleidae or Cochlidiidae > member of
festoon1794
saddleback1890
1890 A. S. Packard Fifth Rep. U.S. Entomol. Comm. i. 146 (heading) The saddle-back caterpillar. Empretia stimulea... The caterpillar is of strange form, being short and thick.
1901 M. C. Dickerson Moths & Butterflies iii. 258 The brown and green Saddle-back caterpillar is one of the curious members of the group.
1944 R. Matheson Entomol. for Introd. Courses xiv. 286 One of our common species on oaks is the saddleback (Sibine stimulea ), so called because the sluglike caterpillar has a wide green patch, on the middle of its back resembling a saddlecloth, with a dark oval spot, frequently outlined with white representing the saddle.
1995 M. R. Berenbaum Bugs in Syst. vii. 199 The saddleback caterpillar Sibine stimulea..is covered with hairs that connect to glands producing histaminelike substances.
12. North American. The Arctic shrew, Sorex arcticus, of the boreal forests of North America, which has a blackish back contrasting with reddish-brown sides. More fully saddleback shrew. Also: this blackish marking. Cf. saddle-backed shrew n. at saddle-backed adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Soricidae > genus Sorex (shrew)
shrewc725
mygalea1382
ranny1559
shrewmouse1572
hardishrew1601
muset1601
earth-shrew1607
sorex1607
spitemouse1668
hog mouse1743
wight1795
thraw-mouse1825
saddleback1948
1895 C. H. Merriam in N. Amer. Fauna No. 10. 64 Sorex Richardsoni... This large saddle-back Shrew hardly requires comparison with any other species, though specimens in the dull pelage sometimes resemble the brown pelage of S. fumeus.
1948 A. L. Rand Mammals E. Rockies 51 The saddle-back shrew with is red-brown sides and tricolour pattern is the most beautiful of our shrews.
1966 R. L. Peterson Mammals E. Canada 38/1 Sorex arcticus Kerr—Arctic or Saddle-back Shrew... Young do not show the distinct dorsal band or ‘saddle back’.
13. A breed (or group of breeds) of mainly black pig having a white belt over the shoulders that typically extends to include the forelegs; a pig of this breed (or group of breeds). Frequently with distinguishing word. More fully saddleback pig.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [noun] > specific breeds
purr?1577
Hampshirea1661
Shropshire1768
tun-back1776
Berkshire1810
Suffolk1831
China hog1838
Essex pig1838
Narragansett1852
Cumberland1860
Neapolitan1860
Tamworth1860
hazel splitter1866
Poland China1869
Duroc1872
Large Black1906
Lincolnshire Curly-Coat1917
saddleback1919
landrace1935
micropig1985
1919 (title) The Wessex Saddleback Pig Society's herd book.
1923 R. E. Davies Pigs & Bacon Curing 11 The Wessex Saddleback and Gloucester Old Spot are breeds which have come to the front considerably of recent years.
1937 F. B. Young Portrait of Village v. 102 By the time he had finished stocking it with Wessex Saddleback pigs..and Rhode Island Red poultry,..he had made another big hole in his dwindling capital.
1965 G. Jones Island of Apples ii. iii. 86 He was going to feed the pigs, he told me, he had over forty, saddlebacks.
1989 S. G. Hall & J. Clutton-Brock 200 Years Brit. Farm Livestock xvii. 210 The Essex and Wessex Saddlebacks had distinct histories when they were merged into the British Saddleback in 1967.
14. The Nilgiri tahr, Hemitragus hylocrius, a rare wild goat found in the rocky hills of southern India, the male of which has a short blackish-brown coat with a whitish saddle-like mark on the back. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > subfamily Caprinae (goat) > [noun] > genus Hemitragus (tehr)
thar1826
tahr1835
serow1847
saddleback1921
1921 Blackwood's Mag. July 30/2 The shootable male is termed a saddle-back, for he carries a whitish saddle-like stain on his back.
15. The black-backed jackal, Canis mesomelas, of Africa. More fully saddleback jackal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > jackal
thos1601
jackal1603
jacco1648
the lion's provider1774
thous1839
jack1871
saddleback1947
1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. ii. 23 The side-striped jackal..began to decrease... Its place had been taken by the black-backed jackal... It may be that it contracted and died from the same disease as affected the wild dog, and from which the saddle-back..remained..immune.
1964 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka vii. 61 A pair of saddle-back jackals coming into view from the sands of an ant-bear hole.
B. adj.
1.
a. That has or forms a saddleback (in various senses of the noun). Cf. saddle-backed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adjective] > having particular shape of back
saddle-backed?1577
swayed1577
saddleback1677
sway-backed1680
bream-backed1723
swayback1887
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > roof > [adjective] > type of roof
thatched1467
side?a1475
thacked1530
vaulted1552
shingleda1563
slated1611
unshingled1611
high-pitch1614
slate-pointed1648
killesed1649
hipped1663
pantiledc1672
overpitched1677
underpitched1677
low-pitcheda1684
pitched1773
theeked1792
peaked1797
shingle1810
thackless1810
choppered1818
wagon-headed1823
unlathed1854
break-back1856
shingly1857
saddleback1861
scaled1862
gambrelled1863
thatchy1864
weather-slated1870
thatchless1882
weather-tiled1887
monopitch1941
tile-roofed1962
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > other elements > [adjective] > other elements
saddleback1861
1677 London Gaz. No. 1257/4 Stolen or strayed.., one dapple gray Gelding..a little saddle-back.
1696 London Gaz. No. 3202/4 A brown Mare,..Saddle Back, well risen on the Crest.
1843 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 632/2 It is not unusual to find..a saddle-back roof on one tower and a spire on another.
1861 Ecclesiologist 23 252 Gabled or saddle-back towers.
1897 Daily News 3 May 7/3 The Greek troops occupied..a saddleback hill.
1904 Westm. Gaz. 2 Sept. 4/1 A high saddle~back peak.
1980 D. Williams Murder for Treasure xvi. 145 He marvelled at the..thirteenth-century tower at the west end with..saddleback roof.
2000 Toronto Sun (Nexis) 2 Jan. c5 [Machu Pichu] clings dizzily to a saddleback ridge between pinnacles 2,000 feet above a horseshoe bend in the Urubamba River.
b. Having a curved or sloping back or upper surface; saddle-shaped. Cf. saddle n.1 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > other elements > [adjective] > coping > saddle-backed
saddle-backed1834
saddleback1876
1844 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 7 236/2 At the bottom of the hopper there is a number of angular or ‘saddle back bars’, placed transversely..; the ‘saddle back bars’ will have the effect of dividing the ores.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 472/1 [Coping] sloping to both sides from the middle..is technically termed saddle-back coping.
1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Saddle Back Rail, or Barlow Rail, a rail whose sides curve rapidly outwards and downwards.
1904 M. Beerbohm Lett. to R. Turner (1964) 155 There is nothing to do except to sit in the hall on a saddle-back chair.
1946 E. Diehl Bookbinding II. xviii. 262 A book like a pamphlet..is best cased..as a ‘saddleback’ book, that is, with a rounded back.
1958 H. G. Sanders Outl. Brit. Crop Husbandry (ed. 3) 265 The harrowing follows the line of the ridges..; an admirable implement for the purpose is a saddleback harrow.
1983 J. S. Foster Struct. & Fabric (rev. ed.) I. iii. 111/2 A saddle-back coping..has the advantage of throwing off water more quickly than normal brick-on-edge.
2001 Courier Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 1 Apr. w22 The picturesque saddleback bridge over the Clun River.
2. Geology. Of an axis: anticlinal. Cf. sense A. 3b. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > fold or dip > [adjective] > anticline
saddle-shaped1795
anticlinal1833
saddleback1854
1854 D. Page Introd. Geol. §31 When strata dip in opposite directions from a ridge or line of elevation..the axis is termed anticlinal or saddleback.
1931 Science 27 Feb. 12/1 The important oil fields of North America..generally occur on the saddleback folds of the rock strata, the ‘anticlines’ in geological language.
3. Medicine. Designating a nose in which the bridge has sunk as a result of disease. Cf. saddle nose n. at saddle n.1 Compounds 4. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > nose > [adjective] > types of nose
cammed?c1350
camoisc1380
snatteda1387
camoisedc1515
flat1560
hawked1577
rising1606
simous1634
aquiline1646
Roman1665
snoutya1685
suspense1697
rhinocerical1710
rhinocerotic1755
Bardolphian1756
cock-up1763
bridgeless1772
retroussé1802
snubbed1802
snubbish1828
snubby1828
snipish1834
snub1843
pugged1847
puggisha1849
tip-tilted1872
saddleback1897
beak-sharp1933
spitzy1968
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 686 As a result of cicatricial contraction of the connective tissue..the so-called ‘saddle~back’ nose may be formed.
1968 H. O. Mackey & J. P. Mackey Handbk. Dis. Skin (ed. 9) xxviii. 307 Atrichosis congenitalis; absence of malformation of the nails, teeth and the sebaceous and sweat glands; thickened and protrusive lips; ‘saddleback nose’; and Mongolian facies are other symptoms.
4. That is carried out on horseback. Also (chiefly U.S.): with a saddle (opposed to bareback).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [adjective] > done on horseback
saddleback1904
1904 Westm. Gaz. 29 Feb. 1/3 His love of saddle-back exercise.
1947 Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News 19 Apr. 1/2 Saddleback riding was not included in these results.
2007 Ann Arbor (Mich.) News (Nexis) 29 June A complete, seven-event show that consists of bareback riding, saddleback riding, bull riding, team roping, tie-down roping, steer-wrestling and girls' barrel racing.
On horseback. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [adverb] > on horseback
on horsea1325
on horseback1390
on steed-backc1400
alofta1425
ahorseback?1473
horseback1727
ahorse1805
saddleback1899
1899 ‘Zack’ On Trial xiv. 124 If 'tworn't that I can trust 'ee saddle-back..I shuld hold you had done the mare a mischief.
Phrases
on saddleback: on horseback. rare.
ΚΠ
1854 Punch 22 Apr. 182/2 For men to fight in things so tight [sc. pantaloons] It must be trying—very... On saddle-back they'd fly and crack.
1989 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 29 Mar. An accomplished rider who grew up on saddleback in the Snowy Mountains.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.adv.1545