way backadv.adj.n.

Brit.

/ˈweɪ ˌbak/, U.S.

/ˈweɪ ˌbæk/, Australian English

/ˈwæe ˌbæk/, New Zealand English

/ˈwæe ˌbɛk/

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: way adv., back adv.

Etymology: < way adv. + back adv.

colloquial (chiefly U.S., Australian, and New Zealand).

A. adv.

1. Far away; far to the back; spec. in a remote rural area. from wayback: from a remote rural area.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb] > at, to, or from (a) remote part(s)

on (in, Sc. to) landc1386

peakishly1567

way back1853

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adverb] > remote or outlying

way back1853

upcountry1863

upstate1901

1853 J. W. Page Uncle Robin xvii. 296 Dese people from 'way back North, hears folks say dat you's a rich man.

1855 Merry's Museum 29 58 I did not know that there was such a fine Magazine,..for I live ‘way back in the woods’.

1884 Boston Globe Oct. His unkempt hair, gawky appearance, and homespun suit..all bespoke the citizen from wayback.

1916 G. Thornton Wowser 85 The condition of those living ‘wayback’.

1930 M. R. E. Blair By Pacific Waters ii. 12 I'm sure they are getting a storm way-back.

1936 ‘F. Gerald’ Millionaire in Mem. iii. 106 Blackall was much the same as any other township ‘way back’.

1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Nov. We sat way back on a slope near a golf course.

1999 C. Brookmyre One Fine Day in Middle of Night 371 Vale was still tooled up, but he was way back at the stern.

2. Long ago. from way back: from long ago; since long ago; (in extended use) through and through.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > long ago

yorec900

for longOE

langer1303

long agoc1350

far1362

for yorea1375

of yore ago(ne)a1375

long time1376

of olda1393

anciently1502

langsyne?a1513

oldlya1513

in old season1582

old1609

antiquely1652

then-a-days1688

(the) year one1754

way back1870

in yore1876

way back when1921

1870 T. F. Vaill tr. Virgil Free & Independent Transl. of First & Fourth Bks. of Æneid 20 I dined and wined and toasted him from way back.

1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxxi. 401 He thinks he's a Sheol of a farmer; thinks he's old Grayback from Wayback.

1892 ‘M. Twain’ Amer. Claimant 167 I tell you, he's an artist from way back!

1923 J. H. Cook Fifty Years on Old Frontier iii. 227 This occurred ‘way back’, when the Indians had no horses.

1948 Sporting Mirror 19 Nov. 6/2 Way back in September I said that Norwich City have got what it takes and would be a power this season.

1990 Flying May 121/1 This was back, way back, when the world was still flat.

2006 G. M. Eberhart Whole Libr. Handbk. IV. v. 346 Librarians are master networkers from way back.

2012 D. Park Light of Amsterdam xiv. 300 ‘What are you wearing?’ ‘It's a T-shirt from way back. I thought I'd give it an outing’.

B. adj. Usually hyphenated or as one word.

1. That originates from, or is located in, a remote rural area. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adjective] > remote or outlying

out of the wayc1175

uplandishc1380

foreign1424

outland1500

outlying1651

outsetting1658

back country1775

out-of-the-world1775

outlandish1792

outworld1808

upcountry1810

backwoodish1836

fresh water1860

backwoodsy1862

way back1884

outstate1911

upstate1935

1884 New Haven (Connecticut) Evening Reg. 26 Aug. 1/1 A man with the speech, dress and manners of a way-back countryman drove up to Paul Well's saloon in Chapel street.

1918 Blackwood's Mag. May 608/2 There was a fundi..who used to let on that the pictures on some vases..were done from wayback Masai.

1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 24 May 21/2 Mrs. Smallbeer sold her very wayback pub.

1973 M. Carnegie Friday Mount 218 No wonder some of the way-back towns had that look.

2003 Boston Herald 6 Oct. 12/1 We filmed in Austin, Texas, in the way-back country roads.

2. Far in the past; ancient, old.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] > long-past or old

oldOE

ancient1366

yorec1400

antique1532

of yore1598

long-ago1603

far gone1829

way back1885

1885 Santa Fé Weekly New Mexican 10 Sept. 1/2 A writer in giving a description of the plains of Kansas in the ‘way back’ time, speaks of it as a ‘wilderness of grasses’.

1941 Litchfield (Michigan) Co-operator Apr. 8/2 When you get to talking about long ancestry and way-back history, it's doubtful if many of the food products used by man today date farther back than honey.

1962 Observer 17 June 3/6 [U.S. writer] He had an ancestor cult. There was a painting of a way-back ancestor wearing a woollen waistcoat.

1993 V. Hamilton Plain City i. 7 All of us are just here and now. Nothing ever was of us before in some long, way-back time.

2012 J. Biros Shaped by Secret 46 I'm going to give you a way-back story: There were times that in my mother's household there wasn't tissues to even wipe yourself after using the bathroom.

C. n. Chiefly Australian. Usually as one word.

1. A person inhabiting or coming from a remote district. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > country dweller > [noun]

countrymanc1300

landmana1400

Jack (John) Upland1402

rurala1475

rustical?1532

rusticc1550

Jock upalanda1568

John Uponlanda1568

rustican1570

countrywoman1679

country cousin1692

ruralist1739

country mouse1750

backwoodsman1774

back-countryman1796

mountaineer1837

ruralite1841

mountain man1847

smock-frock1858

way back1890

woop woop1936

swamp Yankee1941

1890 E. B. Custer Following Guidon xvii. 261 We were, in Western terms, ‘waybacks from wayback’.

1912 R. S. Tait Scotty Mac, Shearer 125 At a group in front of him a thimble-rigger was expending much eloquence to induce a party of waybacks to relieve him of his surplus cash.

1924 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 236 The well-known resourcefulness and sense of location of the present-day way-backs of Australia..are due..to lessons taught the pioneers by the natives.

1956 T. Ronan Moleskin Midas 165 I'm only a wayback meself with no schoolin' so I wouldn't know.

2. Usually with the. The Australian outback. Also in plural.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Australasia > [noun] > Australia > interior

Never-Never Country1859

outside1869

Centralia1887

centre1896

way back1901

outback1904

Dead Heart1906

Red Centre1935

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [noun] > remote or outlying area

nookc1480

out-country1639

outland1645

remoteness1694

backwoods1709

back county1775

remote1838

Mountains of the Moon1852

nowhere1871

the sticks1899

way back1901

downstate1905

back o' Bourke1918

far-back1926

woop woop1926

boohai?1946

bundu1946

Dogpatch1946

outback1954

toolies1961

upstate1965

Watford1973

1901 F. J. Gillen Diary 5 Oct. (1968) 277 The station is built on a stony rise on the western bank of the Newcastle and like most stock stations in the ‘wayback’ there has been no attempt made to improve the appearance of the surroundings.

1925 H. H. Cook Far Flung v. 39 Some 50 miles in the ‘way-back’.

1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 27 Sept. 20/4 Waltzing Matilda in the waybacks of S.A. I came upon a well-found homestead.

1956 Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Feb. 15/1 Our carriage was invaded by a couple of half-stonkered ringers from way back.

2006 M. de Pierres in C. Sparks Agog! Smashing Stories 181 The [Australian] National Water Authority couldn't get any one to work in the wayback anymore.

Phrases

way back when: [short for ‘way back’ followed by a clause introduced by ‘when’ indicating to a time long past] (a) used as a title for an anecdote or narrative of times past (now rare); (b) a long time ago.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > long ago

yorec900

for longOE

langer1303

long agoc1350

far1362

for yorea1375

of yore ago(ne)a1375

long time1376

of olda1393

anciently1502

langsyne?a1513

oldlya1513

in old season1582

old1609

antiquely1652

then-a-days1688

(the) year one1754

way back1870

in yore1876

way back when1921

1921 Hosp. Managem. Feb. 51/2 A popular feature of a metropolitan newspaper is a ‘Way Back When’ column which appears daily under the stereotyped heading ‘Do You Remember Way Back When’ and the readers contribute some reminder or other of the good old days.

1923 Rotarian June 336/1 Occasionally I have contributed..a ‘Way Back When’ recollection to the ‘Wake of the News’.

1931 S. Thompson (title) Way back when; recollections of an octogenarian.

1951 Jrnl. Amer. Water Wks Assoc. 43 1 ‘Medication’, or even worse ‘mass medication’, has been plaguing fluoridationists almost ever since it was introduced innocently enough way back when.

1984 Sounds 1 Dec. 58/6 Relative newcomers aren't always in the best position to explain what happened way back when.

1994 L. Erdrich Bingo Palace ix. 105 Zelda lives in the original log house from way back when, a place..added to over years gone by with layer on layer of Sheetrock and plaster.

1998 T. Clancy Rainbow Six xx. 381 The Worldpark job was as good a bit of sorting out as I have ever seen, even better than the Iranian Embassy job in London, way back when.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	way back
释义	way backadv.adj.n. Brit. /ˈweɪ ˌbak/, U.S. /ˈweɪ ˌbæk/, Australian English /ˈwæe ˌbæk/, New Zealand English /ˈwæe ˌbɛk/ Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: way adv., back adv. Etymology: < way adv. + back adv. colloquial (chiefly U.S., Australian, and New Zealand). A. adv. 1. Far away; far to the back; spec. in a remote rural area. from wayback: from a remote rural area. ΘΚΠ the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb] > at, to, or from (a) remote part(s) on (in, Sc. to) landc1386 peakishly1567 way back1853 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adverb] > remote or outlying way back1853 upcountry1863 upstate1901 1853 J. W. Page Uncle Robin xvii. 296 Dese people from 'way back North, hears folks say dat you's a rich man. 1855 Merry's Museum 29 58 I did not know that there was such a fine Magazine,..for I live ‘way back in the woods’. 1884 Boston Globe Oct. His unkempt hair, gawky appearance, and homespun suit..all bespoke the citizen from wayback. 1916 G. Thornton Wowser 85 The condition of those living ‘wayback’. 1930 M. R. E. Blair By Pacific Waters ii. 12 I'm sure they are getting a storm way-back. 1936 ‘F. Gerald’ Millionaire in Mem. iii. 106 Blackall was much the same as any other township ‘way back’. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Nov. We sat way back on a slope near a golf course. 1999 C. Brookmyre One Fine Day in Middle of Night 371 Vale was still tooled up, but he was way back at the stern. 2. Long ago. from way back: from long ago; since long ago; (in extended use) through and through. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > long ago yorec900 for longOE langer1303 long agoc1350 far1362 for yorea1375 of yore ago(ne)a1375 long time1376 of olda1393 anciently1502 langsyne?a1513 oldlya1513 in old season1582 old1609 antiquely1652 then-a-days1688 (the) year one1754 way back1870 in yore1876 way back when1921 1870 T. F. Vaill tr. Virgil Free & Independent Transl. of First & Fourth Bks. of Æneid 20 I dined and wined and toasted him from way back. 1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxxi. 401 He thinks he's a Sheol of a farmer; thinks he's old Grayback from Wayback. 1892 ‘M. Twain’ Amer. Claimant 167 I tell you, he's an artist from way back! 1923 J. H. Cook Fifty Years on Old Frontier iii. 227 This occurred ‘way back’, when the Indians had no horses. 1948 Sporting Mirror 19 Nov. 6/2 Way back in September I said that Norwich City have got what it takes and would be a power this season. 1990 Flying May 121/1 This was back, way back, when the world was still flat. 2006 G. M. Eberhart Whole Libr. Handbk. IV. v. 346 Librarians are master networkers from way back. 2012 D. Park Light of Amsterdam xiv. 300 ‘What are you wearing?’ ‘It's a T-shirt from way back. I thought I'd give it an outing’. B. adj. Usually hyphenated or as one word. 1. That originates from, or is located in, a remote rural area. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adjective] > remote or outlying out of the wayc1175 uplandishc1380 foreign1424 outland1500 outlying1651 outsetting1658 back country1775 out-of-the-world1775 outlandish1792 outworld1808 upcountry1810 backwoodish1836 fresh water1860 backwoodsy1862 way back1884 outstate1911 upstate1935 1884 New Haven (Connecticut) Evening Reg. 26 Aug. 1/1 A man with the speech, dress and manners of a way-back countryman drove up to Paul Well's saloon in Chapel street. 1918 Blackwood's Mag. May 608/2 There was a fundi..who used to let on that the pictures on some vases..were done from wayback Masai. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 24 May 21/2 Mrs. Smallbeer sold her very wayback pub. 1973 M. Carnegie Friday Mount 218 No wonder some of the way-back towns had that look. 2003 Boston Herald 6 Oct. 12/1 We filmed in Austin, Texas, in the way-back country roads. 2. Far in the past; ancient, old. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] > long-past or old oldOE ancient1366 yorec1400 antique1532 of yore1598 long-ago1603 far gone1829 way back1885 1885 Santa Fé Weekly New Mexican 10 Sept. 1/2 A writer in giving a description of the plains of Kansas in the ‘way back’ time, speaks of it as a ‘wilderness of grasses’. 1941 Litchfield (Michigan) Co-operator Apr. 8/2 When you get to talking about long ancestry and way-back history, it's doubtful if many of the food products used by man today date farther back than honey. 1962 Observer 17 June 3/6 [U.S. writer] He had an ancestor cult. There was a painting of a way-back ancestor wearing a woollen waistcoat. 1993 V. Hamilton Plain City i. 7 All of us are just here and now. Nothing ever was of us before in some long, way-back time. 2012 J. Biros Shaped by Secret 46 I'm going to give you a way-back story: There were times that in my mother's household there wasn't tissues to even wipe yourself after using the bathroom. C. n. Chiefly Australian. Usually as one word. 1. A person inhabiting or coming from a remote district. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > country dweller > [noun] countrymanc1300 landmana1400 Jack (John) Upland1402 rurala1475 rustical?1532 rusticc1550 Jock upalanda1568 John Uponlanda1568 rustican1570 countrywoman1679 country cousin1692 ruralist1739 country mouse1750 backwoodsman1774 back-countryman1796 mountaineer1837 ruralite1841 mountain man1847 smock-frock1858 way back1890 woop woop1936 swamp Yankee1941 1890 E. B. Custer Following Guidon xvii. 261 We were, in Western terms, ‘waybacks from wayback’. 1912 R. S. Tait Scotty Mac, Shearer 125 At a group in front of him a thimble-rigger was expending much eloquence to induce a party of waybacks to relieve him of his surplus cash. 1924 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 236 The well-known resourcefulness and sense of location of the present-day way-backs of Australia..are due..to lessons taught the pioneers by the natives. 1956 T. Ronan Moleskin Midas 165 I'm only a wayback meself with no schoolin' so I wouldn't know. 2. Usually with the. The Australian outback. Also in plural. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Australasia > [noun] > Australia > interior Never-Never Country1859 outside1869 Centralia1887 centre1896 way back1901 outback1904 Dead Heart1906 Red Centre1935 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [noun] > remote or outlying area nookc1480 out-country1639 outland1645 remoteness1694 backwoods1709 back county1775 remote1838 Mountains of the Moon1852 nowhere1871 the sticks1899 way back1901 downstate1905 back o' Bourke1918 far-back1926 woop woop1926 boohai?1946 bundu1946 Dogpatch1946 outback1954 toolies1961 upstate1965 Watford1973 1901 F. J. Gillen Diary 5 Oct. (1968) 277 The station is built on a stony rise on the western bank of the Newcastle and like most stock stations in the ‘wayback’ there has been no attempt made to improve the appearance of the surroundings. 1925 H. H. Cook Far Flung v. 39 Some 50 miles in the ‘way-back’. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 27 Sept. 20/4 Waltzing Matilda in the waybacks of S.A. I came upon a well-found homestead. 1956 Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Feb. 15/1 Our carriage was invaded by a couple of half-stonkered ringers from way back. 2006 M. de Pierres in C. Sparks Agog! Smashing Stories 181 The [Australian] National Water Authority couldn't get any one to work in the wayback anymore. Phrases way back when: [short for ‘way back’ followed by a clause introduced by ‘when’ indicating to a time long past] (a) used as a title for an anecdote or narrative of times past (now rare); (b) a long time ago. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > long ago yorec900 for longOE langer1303 long agoc1350 far1362 for yorea1375 of yore ago(ne)a1375 long time1376 of olda1393 anciently1502 langsyne?a1513 oldlya1513 in old season1582 old1609 antiquely1652 then-a-days1688 (the) year one1754 way back1870 in yore1876 way back when1921 1921 Hosp. Managem. Feb. 51/2 A popular feature of a metropolitan newspaper is a ‘Way Back When’ column which appears daily under the stereotyped heading ‘Do You Remember Way Back When’ and the readers contribute some reminder or other of the good old days. 1923 Rotarian June 336/1 Occasionally I have contributed..a ‘Way Back When’ recollection to the ‘Wake of the News’. 1931 S. Thompson (title) Way back when; recollections of an octogenarian. 1951 Jrnl. Amer. Water Wks Assoc. 43 1 ‘Medication’, or even worse ‘mass medication’, has been plaguing fluoridationists almost ever since it was introduced innocently enough way back when. 1984 Sounds 1 Dec. 58/6 Relative newcomers aren't always in the best position to explain what happened way back when. 1994 L. Erdrich Bingo Palace ix. 105 Zelda lives in the original log house from way back when, a place..added to over years gone by with layer on layer of Sheetrock and plaster. 1998 T. Clancy Rainbow Six xx. 381 The Worldpark job was as good a bit of sorting out as I have ever seen, even better than the Iranian Embassy job in London, way back when. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < adv.adj.n.1853
随便看	to miss on all cylinders to miss on etc cylinders to miss on four cylinders to miss one's aim to miss one's etc to miss one's foot to miss one's guess to miss one's mark to miss one's measure to miss one's tip to miss one's way to miss one'the aim to miss one'the etc to miss one'the mark to miss out to miss plant to miss stays to miss the boat to miss the bus to miss the cushion to miss the etc to miss the globe to miss the market to miss the podium to miss the point