to the backbone
"to-the-backbone" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“to the backbone” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Through and through; thoroughly; entirely.
Corpus desk
Index EN-to-the-backbone · to the backbone · English
to the backbone · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | to the backbone |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “to the backbone” in English
Rare enough to double-check
to the backbone is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Through and through; thoroughly; entirely.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for to the backbone in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is to the backbone, spelled T-O- -T-H-E- -B-A-C-K-B-O-N-E.
Definition
- 1Through and through; thoroughly; entirely.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how to the backbone appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
staunch to the backbone
Sir Culling was an extreme Low Churchman, an Exeter Hallite to the backbone, and the head and front of the Platitudinarian Party.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.