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Back up   /bæk əp/   Listen
verb
Back  v. t.  (past & past part. backed; pres. part. backing)  
1.
To get upon the back of; to mount. "I will back him (a horse) straight."
2.
To place or seat upon the back. (R.) "Great Jupiter, upon his eagle backed, Appeared to me."
3.
To drive or force backward; to cause to retreat or recede; as, to back oxen.
4.
To make a back for; to furnish with a back; as, to back books.
5.
To adjoin behind; to be at the back of. "A garden... with a vineyard backed." "The chalk cliffs which back the beach."
6.
To write upon the back of; as, to back a letter; to indorse; as, to back a note or legal document.
7.
To support; to maintain; to second or strengthen by aid or influence; as, to back a friend. "The Parliament would be backed by the people." "Have still found it necessary to back and fortify their laws with rewards and punishments." "The mate backed the captain manfully."
8.
To bet on the success of; as, to back a race horse.
To back an anchor (Naut.), to lay down a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one.
To back the field, in horse racing, to bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated "the field", will win.
To back the oars, to row backward with the oars.
To back a rope, to put on a preventer.
To back the sails, to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern.
To back up, to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends.
To back a warrant (Law), is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender.
To back water (Naut.), to reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward.


back up  v. t.  
1.
To serve as a backup (3) for (another person or persons); as, the patrolmen backed up the detectives as they went inside to make the arrest; the center fielder backed up the shortstop on the play.
2.
(Computers) To make a backup (5) of; as, the sysop backed up the purchasing data files every night.


back up  v. i.  
1.
To move in a reverse direction; used of vehicles or animals.
2.
To accumulate due to a blockage of flow; as, a traffic backup due to an accident; a sewage backup.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Back up" Quotes from Famous Books



... did!" Raggedy Ann replied. "And when we jumped into bed, we remembered that we had left Raggedy Andy's arm lying up on the attic floor, so we had to run back up there and get ...
— Raggedy Andy Stories • Johnny Gruelle
... as if 'mild, ethereal spring' had got her back up," Burt remarked, "and regarding the return of winter as a trespass, had taken him by the throat, determined to have it out once for all. Something will give way before morning, ...
— Nature's Serial Story • E. P. Roe
... one of the men. "Take him back up, Jim. Anyway, you 'ain't yet told us his name, and how kin any little shaver walk which ain't ...
— Bruvver Jim's Baby • Philip Verrill Mighels
... brown rocks; as you sink from ledge to ledge in the writhing and twisting steamer, you have a vague sense that all this is perhaps an achievement rather than an enjoyment. When, descending the Long Sault, you look back up hill, and behold those billows leaping down the steep slope after you, "No doubt," you confide to your soul, "it is magnificent; but it is not pleasure." You greet with silent satisfaction the level river, stretching between the Long Sault and the Coteau, and you admire the delightful ...
— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells
... you back home, Dele," said Mr. Dougherty, "and then I'll drop back up to Seltzer's with the boys. You can have swell chuck to-night if you want it. I made a winning on Anaconda yesterday; so you can go as ...
— The Voice of the City • O. Henry


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