(American football) The area behind the line of scrimmage occupied before the snap by the team on offense.
(baseball, rare) Synonym of outfield.
(soccer, US) The area behind either the offensive or defensive line.
The players occupying this area.
backfields
backfields
noun
plural of backfield
backfill
backfill
noun
(US) Reserve support personnel.
(US) That which backfills; a replacement.
(literature) Material in a story set earlier in the past, providing history or context for the current action.
The material that has been used to refill an excavation.
verb
(US) To provide reserve support.
(US) To replenish or restock due to attrition or loss.
(archaeology) To refill an excavation unit to restore the former ground surface and/or to preserve the unit and make it recognizable as having been excavated.
(gaming) To enter an online game that's already in progress, replacing a player who left early.
To refill a hole with the material dug out of it.
backfilled
backfilled
verb
simple past tense and past participle of backfill
backfiller
backfiller
noun
A machine for refilling an excavation.
backfilling
backfilling
noun
The process by which something is backfilled.
verb
present participle of backfill
backfills
backfills
noun
plural of backfill
verb
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of backfill
backfire
backfire
noun
(firefighting) Alternative spelling of back fire
A premature explosion in the cylinder of a gas or oil engine during the exhaust or the compression stroke, tending to drive the piston in the wrong direction.
An explosion in other equipment.
An explosion in the exhaust passages of an internal combustion engine.
verb
(of a gun, cannon, Bunsen burner, etc.) To fire in the opposite direction, for example due to an obstruction in the barrel.
(of an engine) To experience a premature ignition of fuel or an ignition of exhaust gases, making a popping sound.
To fail in a manner that brings down further misfortune.
backfired
backfired
verb
simple past tense and past participle of backfire
backfires
backfires
noun
plural of backfire
verb
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of backfire
backfiring
backfiring
noun
A failure that leads to further misfortune.
The occurrence of a backfire.
verb
present participle of backfire
backfitting
backfitting
verb
present participle of backfit
backflap
backflash
backflash
noun
Synonym of flashback (“dramatic device”)
The hazardous situation where the flame propagates backward down the hose of an oxyfuel welding and cutting system.
backflip
backflip
noun
(by extension) a total reversal in policy or opinion; a volte-face, a U-turn.
(gymnastics) An act of rotating one's body 360 degrees in the backward direction.
verb
To completely reverse a policy or opinion; perform a U-turn.
To perform a backflip (rotation of body).
backflipped
backflipped
verb
simple past tense and past participle of backflip
backflipping
backflipping
verb
present participle of backflip
backflow
backflow
noun
The flow of a fluid (through a pipe etc.) in a direction opposite to that which is normal or intended.
verb
To flow in the wrong or backward direction.
backflowing
backflowing
adj
flowing backwards
verb
present participle of backflow
backfold
backframe
backfriend
backfriend
noun
(UK, dialectal) A friend at one's back; a backer; one who does his best for another; a supporter.
(UK, dialectal) A hangnail.
(UK, dialectal, obsolete) A false friend; a secret enemy.
backfurrow
backfurrow
noun
(agriculture) The line of piled soil thrown up beside a furrow when it is created by a plow
verb
(agriculture) To throw or turn the soil in alternating directions for every other row that is plowed, so that every pair of furrows has a single backfurrow with clear areas on the outside.
backoff
backoff
noun
(computing) The situation where an algorithm or process refrains from taking an action it would otherwise have taken.
(surfing) The situation where an incoming wave passes from shallower water to a deeper area, making the wave less steep and potentially unsurfable.
backshift
backshift
noun
(grammar) The changing of the tense of a verb from present to past in reported speech.
(statistics) A function on a stochastic process whose value on any random variable is the preceding random variable in the process.
verb
(grammar, transitive) To change the tense of a verb from present to past in reported speech.
backspacefile
backstaff
backstaff
noun
(nautical) An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude.
bailiffwick
bailiffwick
noun
Obsolete form of bailiwick.
beckford
beefcake
beefcake
noun
(informal, countable) Such a male, especially as seen as physically desirable.
(informal, uncountable) Imagery of one or more muscular, well-built men.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see beef, cake.
beefcakes
beefcakes
noun
plural of beefcake
befleck
befleck
verb
(poetic) to cover with small spots or flecks
beflecked
beflecked
verb
simple past tense and past participle of befleck
beflecking
beflecking
verb
present participle of befleck
beflecks
beflecks
verb
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of befleck
befreckle
befrocked
befrocked
adj
Wearing a frock.
bekerchief
bifteck
biofeedback
biofeedback
noun
A technique consisting of measuring a person's quantifiable bodily functions, such as blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, sweat gland activity, and muscle tension, then conveying the information to the person in real-time.
biofeedbacks
biofeedbacks
noun
plural of biofeedback
blackface
blackface
noun
(countable) A sheep of the Scottish Blackface breed.
(uncountable) A style of makeup in which a non-black person blackens their face, usually in order to portray a black person.
blackfeet
blackfellow
blackfellow
noun
(Australia, now usually considered offensive) A (male) Australian Aborigine.
blackfellows
blackfellows
noun
plural of blackfellow
blackfigured
blackfin
blackfin
noun
bluefin tuna
blackfins
blackfins
noun
plural of blackfin
blackfire
blackfish
blackfish
noun
(Australia, New Zealand) Any of various dark-coloured fishes of Australasia, especially the luderick, Girella tricuspidata, and a freshwater fish, Gadopsis marmoratus.
(Canada, US) Either of two dark-coloured fish of the west Atlantic, the tautog of New England (Tautoga onitis) and the black sea bass (Centropristis striata).
(chiefly Scotland) The Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, especially a female after spawning.
A pilot whale, genus Globicephalus (occasionally also used for various other whales).
Any of various dark-coloured fish of the Old World, especially the rudderfish (Centrolophus niger).
verb
(Internet slang, derogatory, of a white person) To adopt signifiers of black identity (for example, by darkening the skin, or wearing traditionally black hairstyles).
(fishing) To go fishing for blackfish.
blackfisher
blackfishes
blackfishes
noun
plural of blackfish
blackfishing
blackfishing
noun
(slang, of a non-black person) The practice of appropriating signifiers of black identity, such as darkening the skin, or wearing traditionally black hairstyles.
verb
present participle of blackfish
blackflies
blackflies
noun
plural of blackfly
blackfly
blackfly
noun
A black or dark green aphid (Aphis fabae) that is a common pest of agricultural crops.
Any of various small black bloodsucking flies of the family Simuliidae.
blackfoot
blackfoot
noun
A tropical American bush of the genus Melampodium
blackford
blackfriars
blackfriars
intj
(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) look out; beware
noun
plural of blackfriar
bookcraft
bookcraft
noun
(archaic) Authorship; literary skill.
brickcroft
brickfield
brickfield
noun
A place where bricks are made; a brickyard.
brickfielder
brickfielder
noun
(Australia) A hot, dry, dusty wind of southern or central Australia.
brickfields
brickfields
noun
plural of brickfield
bucketful
bucketful
noun
(by extension) A large quantity.
The quantity contained in a bucket.
bucketfull
bucketfuls
bucketfuls
noun
plural of bucketful
bucketsful
buckfield
buffaloback
buffaloback
noun
The back of a buffalo
fallback
fallback
adj
That can be resorted to as a fallback.
noun
(construction) A reduction in bitumen softening point, sometimes called refluxing or overheating, in a relatively closed container.
A backup plan or contingency strategy; an alternative which can be used if something goes wrong with the main plan; a recourse.
An act of falling back.
Pulverised material that falls back to earth after a nuclear explosion; fallout.
verb
Misspelling of fall back.
fallbacks
fallbacks
noun
plural of fallback
fanback
fanback
noun
(often attributive) A kind of chair whose back has a number of vertical elements that spread out like a fan.
fastback
fastback
noun
A motor car having a continuous slope from the roof to the rear
fastbacks
fastbacks
noun
plural of fastback
fatback
fatback
noun
(US) A layer of fat, along the back of a pig, used as a cut of meat or to make lard
A fish, the menhaden.
fatbacks
fatbacks
noun
plural of fatback
featherback
featherback
noun
Any fish of the family Notopteridae.
feedback
feedback
noun
(electronics, cybernetics, control theory) The part of an output signal that is looped back into the input to control or modify a system.
Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results.
The high-pitched howling noise heard when there is a loop between a microphone and a speaker.
verb
(music) To generate the high-frequency sound by allowing a speaker to cause vibration of the sound generator of a musical instrument connected by an amplifier to the speaker.
(transitive) To convey by means of specialized communications channel.
(transitive) To provide informational feedback to.
feedbacks
feedbacks
noun
(proscribed) plural of feedback
verb
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of feedback
fernambuck
fiddleback
fiddleback
noun
A feature of maple wood where the fibers are distorted in an undulating chatoyant pattern.
A kind of chasuble with the front cut away.
The brown recluse spider.
fiddlebacks
fiddlebacks
noun
plural of fiddleback
finback
finback
noun
A large baleen whale, Balaenoptera physalus, that has a ridge on its back; the fin whale.
finbacks
finbacks
noun
plural of finback
finchbacked
fireback
fireback
noun
A piece of iron that fits into the back of a fireplace to distribute the heat and keep the brick from cracking.
Any of certain species of pheasant in the genus Lophura.
firebrick
firebrick
noun
a brick capable of withstanding high temperatures without deforming.
firebricks
firebricks
noun
plural of firebrick
fishback
fishyback
fishybacking
flareback
flareback
noun
A burst of flame emitted from a cannon, furnace, etc. in an abnormal direction.
flashback
flashback
noun
(authorship) A dramatic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.
(databases) A query that operates against data from an earlier time, before it was changed.
(psychology) A vivid mental image of a past trauma or other sensation that the trauma is happening in the present, especially one that recurs.
A similar recurrence of the effects of a hallucinogenic drug.
The condition of the flame propagating down the hose of an oxy-fuel welding system.
verb
(intransitive) To undergo a flashback; to experience a vivid mental image from the past.
flashbacks
flashbacks
noun
plural of flashback
flockbed
flyback
flyback
noun
A special kind of electrical transformer, originally designed to generate high-voltage sawtooth signals at a relatively high frequency, and now extensively used in switched-mode power supplies.
The movement of the electron beam back to its initial position between scan lines in a cathode-ray tube display.
footback
forblack
forblack
adj
(archaic) Extremely black; jet-black.
forebackwardly
fredericksburg
fredericksburg
Proper noun
A town in Posey County, Indiana, United States.
A city/town in Iowa State.
A village in Ohio State.
A city in Texas State.
A city in the northern part Virginia Commonwealth.
frillback
frillback
noun
A pigeon of a fancy breed having a frill or curls on the wing shield feathers.
fullback
fullback
noun
(American football) An offensive back whose primary jobs are to block in advance of the halfback on running plays and for the quarterback on passing plays.
(field hockey) A defensive player who assists the goalie in preventing the opposing team from scoring.
(rugby) A position behind the main line of backs in both rugby union and rugby league. In rugby union, they wear number 15 jersey at the start of play and are the last line of defence responsible for catching punts.
(soccer) A player who plays on the left or right side of defence.
fullbacks
fullbacks
noun
plural of fullback
halfback
halfback
noun
(American football) An offensive back whose primary jobs are to carry the ball on running plays and to serve as a receiver or blocker on passing plays.
(Australian rules football) One of three players (the centre halfback and two halfback flankers) on the line between the centre line and the fullback line.
(Canadian football) A defensive back whose primary jobs are to cover the slotback on passing plays and prevent running plays from going to the outside.
(field hockey) A player in the halfback position, with both offensive and defensive roles.
(field sports) Any of various positions on the field of play between the forwards and the fullbacks.
(rugby) The player who feeds the ball into the scrum, and receives the ball as it emerges from the back of the scrum.