back
part of speech
noun (the back, backs); adverb; adjective; verb (back, backs, backed, backing)
meaning for a pupil
1) The back is the part that is last or farthest from the front: the back of the line. tree →
2) Your back is the part of your body from your neck to your bottom. tree →
3) Back as an adverb means to where someone or something was before: «come back», «give it back». tree →
4) To back someone is to help or support them; to back up is to move backwards. tree →
5) Back means earlier in time: «three years back», «back then». tree →
6) In football and rugby a back is a player near your own goal. tree →
7) (casual) «Got your back» means I'll protect you; «back in a sec» means I'll return soon. tree →
8) (rude) «Back off!», «get off my back!» mean stop bothering me; «talk behind someone's back» is gossip they do not hear. tree →
9) (formal) Exams say «return», «reimburse», «refund», «the rear» and «previously». tree →
sense in the lessons
the end of a line; also returning: «gives N back» moves N back to the one who had them; phrases: «the back of», «at the back», «come back», «give back», «back up», «back and forth», «pay back», «money back»; in casual talk «got ya back», «back in 5», «way back»; in rough talk «back off», «give it back or else», «get off my back»; in the exam voice «returned», «reimbursed», «refunded», «from the rear», «previously»
examples
- Anna is the 6th from the front and the 11th from the back. tree →
- Tom stands at the back of the line. tree →
- Sam gave 2 cards back to Ben. tree →
- Write your name on the back of the page. tree →
- Lie on your back and look at the stars. tree →
- Come back before it gets dark. tree →
- Dad backed the car out of the garage. tree →
- back in 5 mins, save me a seat tree →
- Give it back or else, that's my 10 bucks! tree →
- She talks about everyone behind their back. tree →
- A refund of 4 dollars is subsequently remitted to the purchaser. Determine the net expenditure. tree →
- Count the 4th seat from the rear of the bus. tree →
- He went back to his work. tree →
note
«the Mth from the back» counts from the end of the line. «gives N back» moves N back to the one who had them. «refund», «reimburse», «return» in an exam give money or things back: the payer's cost goes down. «back in 5» means 5 minutes, a time. Trap: «back» as a body part has no number meaning.
In the corpora
- A debit card spends money already in the account; a credit card borrows money that must be paid back later.
- A debit card spends money already in the account; a credit card borrows money from the card company to be paid back later.
- Borrowing always has a price called interest, so the total paid back is more than the price tag.
- Debt advice charities give free, private help to make a plan for paying debts back at a pace the family can manage.
- Renters sign a tenancy and pay a deposit that comes back if the home is left in good condition.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «back» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.