English Words: B

31,241 words · Page 13 of 625

back straightnoun

The straight part of a racetrack, running track, etc., opposite the finishing line; the backstretch.

back streetnoun

A usually small and narrow street or alley, especially one in inferior or poorer parts of a city, away from the centre.

back the wrong horseverb

To support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful.

back thenprep_phrase

At that time, at the time referred to in the past.

back to back jacknoun

Two home runs hit by consecutive batters

back to basicsadv

back to fundamental principles

back to frontadv

Turned so that the back is now at the front; the wrong way around.

back to square oneadj

Located back at the start, as after a dead end or failure.

back to the drawing boardadv

Indicates that one must try a different strategy in order to achieve some goal following the failure of a recent attempt.

Back to the Future Dayname

The date October 21, 2015, regarded as commemorative of the movie Back to the Future Part II, in which the main characters use a time machine to travel to this date from the year 1985.

back to the wallnoun

A very difficult situation with no beneficial options available for action.

back upverb

To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so.

back up the truckverb

To take advantage of favourable pricing by purchasing a large amount.

back wallnoun

The wall at the back of a racquetball or squash court, directly opposite the front wall.

back-alleyadj

Occurring away from publicity, or in mean surroundings; backstreet.

back-annotationnoun

The process of updating the logical design of a circuit with physically measured values, to allow for more accurate simulation.

back-asswardsadj

Alternative form of ass-backwards.

back-burneringverb

present participle and gerund of back-burner

back-buttnoun

Buttocks.

back-classverb

To retake a failed part of training.

back-clothnoun

Alternative spelling of backcloth.

back-doublenoun

A favourite route through a town or city, often used as a shortcut.

back-fenceadj

Informal; armchair; carried out by people without direct knowledge or formal expertise.

back-formnoun

A back-formation; a word formed by removing a perceived morpheme from an older word.

back-formationnoun

The process by which a new word is formed from an older word by interpreting the former as a derivative of the latter, often by removing a morpheme (real or perceived) from the older word, such as the verb burgle, formed by removing -ar (perceived as an agent-noun suffix) from burglar.

back-friendnoun

Alternative form of backfriend.

back-gangingadj

Behind or late in payment or rent; in arrears.

back-handnoun

Alternative form of backhand.

back-handedadj

Alternative form of backhanded.

back-handedlyadv

Alternative form of backhandedly.

back-handednessnoun

Alternative form of backhandedness.

back-heelnoun

Alternative form of backheel.

back-of-an-envelopeadj

Alternative form of back-of-the-envelope.

back-of-the-envelopeadj

Especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified.

back-patnoun

Synonym of pat on the back.

back-pattyadj

Self-congratulatory or self-aggrandizing.

back-pocketverb

To put (something) into a back pocket.

back-rappernoun

Alternative form of backarapper.

back-referencenoun

Alternative form of backreference.

back-rowernoun

A player who plays in the back row of the scrum.

back-seat drivernoun

An occupant of a large vehicle, such as a firetruck, who helps steer the vehicle from far in the back.

back-seat gamernoun

A person who excessively commentates on the in-game decisions and actions of someone playing a video game, whilst not playing the game.

back-seat moderatornoun

A user who is not a moderator but zealously identifies and polices rule-breaking by others.

back-slapperynoun

The act of patting oneself or someone else on the back.

back-spellingnoun

An unetymological, often hypercorrect, spelling of a word created by analogy with other words which (usually through loss of a sound or its phonetic merger with other sounds) have become similar to it.

back-stabbyadj

Alternative spelling of backstabby.

back-to-backadj

Sequential or consecutive.

back-to-back loannoun

A transaction where a sum borrowed for one country is secured by a deposit of the same company (internal financing) or its stakeholder (external financing) at the same or two different operating companies of the lending financial institution (which may have different legal consequences under taxation law), motivated by hedging against currency fluctuations, restrictive banking regulations in the target country, tax avoidance or money laundering etc.

back-to-back-to-backadj

sequential or consecutive, in the case of exactly three events.

back-to-work ordernoun

A legally binding directive—issued by a court of law, legislature, or other authority—that requires workers who are engaging in a strike or similar labor action to return to work.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English alphabetical index for the letter B contains 31,241 headwords drawn from our Wiktionary-derived dictionary table. At 50 entries per page the browse splits into 625 pages, and you are currently viewing page 13. Every row above is a dictionary-backed entry with a canonical slug, and each links through to a full definition page with pronunciation, senses, etymology, and related-word data where available.

On this page 50 of 50 entries carry a part-of-speech tag and 50 carry at least one stored definition. Coverage varies across letters because Wiktionary volunteers build entries at different speeds for different parts of the alphabet, letters with common starting sounds (S, C, T, P) usually have the densest coverage, while less frequent starters (X, Q, Z) tend to have shorter but more specialised lists. PlainSpell surfaces whatever data is present and links back to the source when a definition is not yet recorded.

For readers using this index as a spelling reference, the guarantee is that every form you see on the list is a documented English headword, not a guess, not a derived inflection lacking a lemma row. If a word you expected to find is absent from the "B" list, it usually means the form exists only as an inflection of another lemma (e.g. a past participle stored under the infinitive) or the entry has not yet been imported from Wiktionary. Use the search bar or the misspelling lookup to resolve these cases.