English Words: B

31,241 words · Page 19 of 625

backsacknoun

A backpack.

backsawnoun

A handsaw that has a reinforcement along its back edge.

backscannoun

A scan from the back or rear side.

backscarpnoun

The scarp formed by a landslide, located at the rearmost (highest) point. The extent of a landslide runs from backscarp to toe.

backscatternoun

The deflection of particles or radiation through angles greater than 90 degrees to the original direction of travel.

backscatterernoun

A device used in backscattering

backscatteringnoun

The scattering of waves, particles, or signals back in the direction of their source.

backscattersondenoun

A balloon-borne instrument used to measure the local aerosol backscatter in the atmosphere.

backscenenoun

A scene used as a background.

backscratchnoun

A scratch on the back.

backscratchernoun

A long slender rod with a rake-like device on one end, sometimes in the form of a human hand, designed to let a person scratch their own back.

backscratchingnoun

The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.

backscreennoun

Alternative form of back screen.

backscrollnoun

scrollback

backseatnoun

Alternative spelling of back seat.

backseaternoun

A navigator or other crewman who accompanies the pilot of an aircraft.

backseatersnoun

plural of backseater

backsellnoun

The promotion of a product to end users or retailers in order to create demand earlier in the supply chain, e.g. with wholesalers.

backsetnoun

A check; a relapse; a discouragement; a setback.

backsettlernoun

One living in the back or outlying districts of a community.

backshadowverb

To demonstrate how an event that has already occurred will affect the future.

backsheetnoun

The bottom layer of a solar cell.

backshellnoun

Part of an electrical conductor or other electrical device, such as a cable clamp or adapter, that is threaded onto the rear connector accessory threads of plug or receptacle connectors to make up the total connector assembly.

backshiftnoun

The changing of the tense of a verb from present to past in reported speech.

backshinenoun

Reflected light.

backshootverb

To shoot in the back.

backshooternoun

A cowboy who kills someone by shooting them in the back

backshopnoun

A specialized store or workshop found in service industries, such as locomotive and aircraft repair.

backshorenoun

An upper shore zone above high-tide.

backshotadj

Having the water introduced just behind the summit, combining the advantages of breastshot and overshot systems, since the full amount of the potential energy released by the falling water is harnessed as the water descends the back of the wheel.

backshuntnoun

A section of railway track which gives access to a siding (or another section of railway line) only by reversing direction; also a train movement which uses such track.

backsidenoun

The back side of anything, the part opposite its front, particularly

backside thrownoun

The rotation of the knee and lower body of the side of the batter away from the pitcher during a swing.

backsidednessnoun

The condition of being backsided.

backsienoun

The back.

backsightnoun

The rear sight of a firearm.

backslabnoun

A type of cast that is non-circumferential, only covering the posterior aspect of a limb, in order to permit swelling.

backslangnoun

A form of slang composed of words whose spelling or sound is reversed.

backslapverb

To enthusiastically affirm or congratulate a person, especially by patting them on the back.

backslappernoun

One who makes a show of liking another person with profuse or excessive displays of camaraderie, such as vigorous hand clasping, back-slapping, hearty words of greeting, etc.

backslashnoun

The punctuation mark \.

backslideverb

To regress; to slip backwards or revert to a previous, worse state.

backslidernoun

A recidivist; one who backslides, especially in a religious sense; an apostate.

backslidethverb

third-person singular simple present indicative of backslide

backslidingnoun

An occasion on which one backslides, especially in a moral sense.

backslopenoun

A downward slope away from the bank of a river, mountain, etc.

backslumnoun

A slum; the poor and disreputable portion of a town.

backsolutionnoun

The process or result of backsolving.

backsolvableadj

Capable of being backsolved.

backsolveverb

To determine the inputs that would lead to a given output in a mathematical system.

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 19. 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.