the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adjective] > inclined from level or sloping > backwards (6)
Meaning and origin uncertain: said of the pitch of a wall.
Chiefly poetic. In extended use: sloping or inclining backwards. Now rare.
Of a facial feature: sloping backwards, receding. Obsolete. rare.
That recedes (in various senses); sloping backwards; retreating; regressive; = receding, adj.
That recedes (in various senses); sloping backwards; retreating.