Backspace key


to shift the carriage or typing element of a typewriter one space backward by depressing a special key.
Computers. to move the cursor, printhead, etc., toward the beginning of the data.
the space made by backspacing.
Also called backspacer, backspace key. the labeled key on a typewriter or computer keyboard used for backspacing.
verb
to move a (typewriter carriage) backwards
noun
a typewriter key that effects such a movement
adj.

also back-space, 1899, in reference to keyboarding, from back (adv.) + space.

We have had the pleasure of examining one of the 1899 model Hammond typewriters, with the new back-space key. This new feature is certainly an improvement in the machine. [“The Phonetic Journal,” March 11, 1899]

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