11 ADV [ADV after v] If you lie or sit back , you move your body backwards into a relaxed sloping or flat position, with your head and body resting on something. □ She lay back and stared at the ceiling. □ She leaned back in her chair and smiled.
12 ADV [ADV after v] If you look or shout back at someone or something, you turn to look or shout at them when they are behind you. □ Nick looked back over his shoulder and then stopped, frowning. □ He called back to her.
13 ADV You use back in expressions like back in London or back at the house when you are giving an account, to show that you are going to start talking about what happened or was happening in the place you mention. □ [+ in ] Meanwhile, back in London, Palace Pictures was collapsing. □ [+ at ] Later, back at home, the telephone rang.
14 ADV [ADV with v, n ADV ] If you talk about something that happened back in the past or several years back , you are emphasizing that it happened quite a long time ago. [EMPHASIS ] □ [+ in ] The story starts back in 1950, when I was five. □ He contributed £50m to the project a few years back.
15 ADV [ADV after v] If you think back to something that happened in the past, you remember it or try to remember it. □ [+ to ] I thought back to the time in 1975 when my son was desperately ill.
16 PHRASE If someone moves back and forth , they repeatedly move in one direction and then in the opposite direction. □ He paced back and forth.
17 to cast your mind back → see mind ➊
➋ back ◆◆◆ /bæ k/ (backs )
→ Please look at categories 22 to 24 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1 N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] A person's or animal's back is the part of their body between their head and their legs that is on the opposite side to their chest and stomach. □ She turned her back to the audience. □ Three of the victims were shot in the back.
2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The back of something is the side or part of it that is towards the rear or farthest from the front. The back of something is normally not used or seen as much as the front. □ [+ of ] …a room at the back of the shop. □ [+ of ] She raised her hands to the back of her neck. □ [+ of ] Smooth the mixture with the back of a soup spoon.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] Back is used to refer to the side or part of something that is towards the rear or farthest from the front. □ He opened the back door. □ Ann could remember sitting in the back seat of their car. □ …the path leading to the back garden.
4 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The back of a chair or sofa is the part that you lean against when you sit on it. □ [+ of ] There was a neatly folded pink sweater on the back of the chair.
5 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The back of something such as a piece of paper or an envelope is the side which is less important. □ [+ of ] He scribbled some notes on the back of the envelope.
6 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The back of a book is the part nearest the end, where you can find the index or the notes, for example. □ [+ of ] …the index at the back of the book.
7 N‑SING You can use back in expressions such as round the back and out the back to refer generally to the area behind a house or other building. [BRIT , SPOKEN ] □ He had chickens and things round the back.
8 N‑UNCOUNT You use back in expressions such as out back to refer to the area behind a house or other building. You also use in back to refer to the rear part of something, especially a car or building. [AM ] □ Dan informed her that he would be out back on the patio cleaning his shoes. □ Catlett got behind the wheel and I sat in back. [Also + of ]
9 N‑COUNT In team games such as football and hockey, a back is a player who is concerned mainly with preventing the other team from scoring goals, rather than scoring goals for their own team.
10 N‑COUNT In American football, a back is a player who stands behind the front line, runs with the ball and attacks rather than defends.
11 PHRASE If you say that something was done behind someone's back , you disapprove of it because it was done without them knowing about it, in an unfair or dishonest way. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ You eat her food, enjoy her hospitality and then criticize her behind her back.
12 PHRASE If you break the back of a task or problem, you do the most difficult part of what is necessary to complete the task or solve the problem. □ It seems at least that we've broken the back of inflation in this country.
13 PHRASE If two or more things are done back to back , one follows immediately after the other without any interruption. □ …two half-hour shows, which will be screened back to back.
14 PHRASE If you are wearing something back to front , you are wearing it with the back of it at the front of your body. If you do something back to front , you do it the wrong way around, starting with the part that should come last. [mainly BRIT ] □ He wears his baseball cap back to front. □ The picture was printed back to front. in AM, use backward
15 PHRASE If you say that one thing happens on the back of another thing, you mean that it happens after that other thing and in addition to it. □ The cuts, if approved, come on the back of a difficult eight years that have seen three fire stations closed.
16 PHRASE If someone is on the back foot , or if something puts them on the back foot , they feel threatened and act defensively. □ From now on, Labour will be on the back foot on the subject of welfare. □ I thought it would knock my confidence and put me on the back foot.