Skip to main content
PlainSpell

backstroke

/ˈbækˌstɹoʊk/noun, verb

backstroke is a noun meaning “A backhanded stroke or blow” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled B-A-C-K-S-T-R-O-K-E and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 2 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of backstroke is backstrokes.

What does backstroke mean?

noun

  1. 1

    A backhanded stroke or blow.

  2. 2

    A stroke swum lying on one's back, while rotating both arms through the water as to propel the swimmer backwards.

    Near-synonym: back crawl

  3. 3

    The pull on the tail of the rope that swings the bell through a full circle.

verb

  1. 1

    To hit with a backstroke.

  2. 2

    To swim the backstroke.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce backstroke?

  • US /ˈbækˌstɹoʊk/

Backstroke has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-backstroke.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of backstroke

  • backstrokes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • backstroking participle, present
  • backstroked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is backstroke?

Backstroke appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,209th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Backstroke in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdos crawlé, dos (a swimming stroke swum on one's back)
GermanRückenschwimmen, Rückenkraulen (a swimming stroke swum on one's back)
Portuguesenado de costas, costas, estilo de costas (a swimming stroke swum on one's back), nadar de costas (to swim backstroke)
Spanishdorso, estilo espalda (a swimming stroke swum on one's back)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does backstroke come from?

From back + stroke.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).