Backward and forward
toward the back or rear.
with the back foremost.
in the reverse of the usual or right way:
counting backward from 100.
toward the past:
to look backward over one’s earlier mistakes.
toward a less advanced state; retrogressively:
Since the overthrow of the president the country has moved steadily backward.
directed toward the back or past.
reversed; returning:
a backward movement; a backward journey.
behind in time or progress; late; slow:
a backward learner; a backward country.
bashful or hesitant; shy:
a backward lover.
backward and forward, thoroughly:
He knew his lesson backward and forward.
Also, backwards and forwards.
adjective
(usually prenominal) directed towards the rear: a backward glance
retarded in physical, material, or intellectual development: backward countries, a backward child
of or relating to the past; conservative or reactionary
(in combination): backward-looking
reluctant or bashful: a backward lover
(chess) (of a pawn) behind neighbouring pawns and unable to be supported by them
adverb
a variant of backwards
adv.
c.1300, from abakward, from Old English on bæc (see back (adv.)) + -weard adjectival and adverbial suffix (see -ward). Old English had the adverb bæcling. As an adjective, from 1550s. Meaning “behindhand with regard to progress” is first attested 1690s. To ring bells backward (from lowest to highest), c.1500, was a signal of alarm for fire or invasion, or to express dismay. Another Middle English word for “backward, wrongly” was arseward (c.1400).
Also, backwards and forwards.
Same as back and forth
Thoroughly, completely, as in He read the speech over and over, until he knew it backwards and forwards. [ Late 1500s ]
In addition to the idiom beginning with
backward
Read Also:
- Backward chaining
backward chaining algorithm An algorithm for proving a goal by recursively breaking it down into sub-goals and trying to prove these until facts are reached. Facts are goals with no sub-goals which are therefore always true. Backward training is the program execution mechanism used by most logic programming language like Prolog. Opposite: forward chaining. (2004-01-26)
- Backward combatability
backward combatability humour /bak’w*d k*m-bat’*-bil’*-tee/ (Play on “backward compatibility”) A property of hardware or software revisions in which previous protocols, formats, layouts, etc. are irrevocably discarded in favour of “new and improved” protocols, formats and layouts, leaving the previous ones not merely deprecated but actively defeated. (Too often, the old and new versions cannot definitively […]
- Backward compatibility
backward compatibility jargon Able to share data or commands with older versions of itself, or sometimes other older systems, particularly systems it intends to supplant. Sometimes backward compatibility is limited to being able to read old data but does not extend to being able to write data in a format that can be read by […]
- Backward
toward the back or rear. with the back foremost. in the reverse of the usual or right way: counting backward from 100. toward the past: to look backward over one’s earlier mistakes. toward a less advanced state; retrogressively: Since the overthrow of the president the country has moved steadily backward. directed toward the back or […]
- Backward compatible
backward compatible backward compatibility