What does back mean

Crossword clues for back

back

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

back

I.adverb

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a back window

▪ The burglar had got in through one of the back windows.

a back/front/side pocket

▪ He took a wad of money from his back pocket.

a back/heart/kidney etc problem

▪ He was born with heart problems.

a chair leg/arm/back/seat

▪ The chair leg has broken.

a crick in your back/neck

▪ He was getting a crick in his neck from leaning out of the window for so long.

a side road/a back road (=a small road that is not used much)

▪ He drove into a quiet side road and stopped the car.

a side/back street (=a small quiet street near the main street)

▪ The restaurant is tucked away in a side street.

arched...back

▪ The dog arched its back.

as far back as

▪ The first petrol-driven car was produced as far back as 1883.

back catalogue

back country

back door

▪ His father works there, so he got in through the back door.

back East

▪ He was born in Utah but went to college back East.

back formation

back here

▪ Will you be back here tonight?

back lanes (=narrow unimportant roads, often behind a row of houses)

▪ a network of alleys and back lanes

back office

▪ back-office operations

back out of/pull out of a deal (=decide not to make a deal after discussing one)

▪ Twenty-five jobs were lost after their partner pulled out of the deal.

back rent (=rent you owe for an earlier period)

▪ Mrs Carr said she is still owed several thousand dollars in back rent.

back seat

▪ Finally, Bryant decided to take a back seat and let his son run the company.

back story

▪ The back story of why she hates her father is a bit too contrived.

back then (=a long time ago when things were different)

▪ I was paid £1000, which was a lot of money back then in the 1950s.

back to normal

▪ Thankfully, train services are now back to normal.

back together

▪ He took the engine apart and then put it back together again.

back up a claim (=support it)

▪ They challenged him to back up his claims with evidence.

back/chest/stomach etc pain

▪ Many people suffer from back pain.

back/hind foot (=of an animal)

▪ The horse lifted its back foot.

backing singers (=people who sing with her)

▪ Tina Turner’s backing singers

back/reverse a car (=make it move backwards)

▪ Suzy backed the car into the driveway.

back/shoulder/throat etc spasm

be back to/at square one

▪ The police are now back at square one in their investigation.

bring back memories (also rekindle/revive memoriesformal) (= make you remember something)

▪ For many older people, the film brought back memories of the war.

bring sb back to consciousness

▪ The doctors were unable to bring her back to consciousness.

bring sb back to reality (=make them realize what is happening around them or true)

▪ She was brought back to reality by the pain in her ankle.

came roaring back

▪ In the second half Leeds came roaring back with two goals in five minutes.

choked back tears

▪ He choked back tears as he described what had happened.

come back into fashion (=become fashionable again)

▪ Short skirts are coming back into fashion this year.

come back to haunt

▪ an error that would come back to haunt them for years to come

coming back into fashion

▪ High heels are coming back into fashion.

fight/choke/blink back tears (=try not to cry)

▪ She fought back tears yesterday as she re-lived the horrors she had seen.

fighting back...tears

▪ She looked away, fighting back her tears.

forced back...tears

▪ Janet forced back her tears.

front/back yard

▪ The kids were playing in the back yard.

get back to a subject

▪ Somehow I just knew in the end we would get back to the subject of money.

get back to nature

▪ city workers who want to get back to nature in their holidays

get back to normal

▪ Life was beginning to get back to normal.

get back to sleep

▪ I couldn’t get back to sleep.

get your breath back (also catch your breath) (= start breathing normally again)

▪ He leant against a tree until he had got his breath back.

get your deposit back

▪ You'll get your deposit back when all the bills have been paid.

give sb their deposit back

▪ When I left, the landlord refused to give me my deposit back.

give sb their money back (also refund sb’s money) (= give money back to a customer)

▪ We regret that we are unable to refund money on tickets.

go back a long way (=we have been friends for a long time)

▪ We go back a long way.

go back on an agreement (also renege on an agreementformal) (= not do what you agreed to do)

▪ Republican leaders accused Democrats of trying to renege on an agreement to have a House vote.

go back on your promise (=break it)

▪ They were angry that the company had gone back on its promise.

go back on your word/promise/decision

▪ Delors claimed that the President had gone back on his word.

go back to square one (=used when you start something again because you were not successful the first time)

▪ Okay, let’s go back to square one and try again.

go back to/return to your seat

▪ The audience clapped as he returned to his seat.

go back/get back to sleep (=sleep again after waking up)

▪ He shut his eyes and went back to sleep.

go back/get back to sleep (=sleep again after waking up)

▪ He shut his eyes and went back to sleep.

hold back the tears (=not cry even though you feel like crying)

▪ She gave her version of events, often struggling to hold back the tears.

hold back...tears

▪ She struggled to hold back her tears.

keep back the tears

▪ She was struggling to keep back the tears.

keep sth/get sth back on an even keel

▪ Now that the crisis is over, we must try to get things back on an even keel.

know...like the back of my hand (=I know it very well)

▪ I grew up here; I know the place like the back of my hand.

lay flat on...back

▪ That night I lay flat on my back and stared up at the ceiling.

lean back in your chair

▪ He leant back in his chair and took out his pipe.

Looking back on it

▪ Looking back on it, I still can’t figure out what went wrong.

memories come flooding back (=you suddenly remember things clearly)

▪ Evelyn hugged her daughter, as memories came flooding back to her.

neck/back/knee brace (=a brace that supports the neck etc)

▪ He was being fitted for a back brace.

nursed...back to health

▪ After Ray’s operation, Mrs Stallard nursed him back to health.

on the back of an envelope (=used to describe a calculation or plan that is written down quickly on any available small piece of paper)

▪ She scribbled a few ideas on the back of an envelope.

open/draw (back)/pull back the curtains (=open them)

▪ Would you mind opening the curtains?

open/draw (back)/pull back the curtains (=open them)

▪ Would you mind opening the curtains?

plough back...profits

▪ Companies can plough back their profits into new equipment.

push back the frontiers (=discover new things)

push back your chair (=in order to get up)

▪ He pushed back his chair and stood up.

put your watch back (=make it show an earlier time)

▪ On Saturday night, don’t forget to put your watch back an hour.

regain/get back/recover your sanity

▪ I took a vacation to try to recover my sanity.

repay/pay off/pay back a loan (=give back the money you borrowed, usually over a period of time)

▪ You can repay the loan early without a penalty.

return sth to the library/take sth back to the library

▪ Have you taken those books back to the library?

return to work/go back to work

▪ His doctor agreed he was fit enough to return to work.

return to/come back into the fold

▪ The Church will welcome him back into the fold.

return/come back etc empty-handed

▪ I spent all morning looking for a suitable present, but came home empty-handed.

sb's front/back teeth

▪ Some of his front teeth were missing.

short back and sides

sth’s origins go back to sth (=used to say when or how something began)

▪ The school’s origins go back to the 12th century.

stiff neck/back/joint etc

▪ Alastair woke with a stiff neck.

support/back a proposal

▪ Not one of these organizations supports the government's proposals.

support/defend/back sb to the hilt

▪ I’m backing the PM to the hilt on this.

swinging...back and forth

▪ He was swinging his bag back and forth.

the back gardenBritish English (= behind a house)

▪ The children are playing in the back garden.

the back of the net

▪ Henry kicked the ball into the back of the net.

the back of your hand (=the outside surface of your hand)

▪ Let a dog sniff the back of your hand, rather than your fingers.

the back/end of the queue

▪ Get to the back of the queue!

the back/rear wheel

▪ The rear wheels of the bus got stuck in a creek.

the front/back cover

▪ The price of the book is on the back cover.

the front/back door key

▪ She felt in her pocket for the front door key.

the front/back edge

▪ I banged my elbow on the front edge of the desk.

the front/back gate (=the gate in front of or at the back of a building)

▪ She stood outside the front gate of the cottage.

the front/back page (=of a newspaper)

▪ Her picture was on the front page of every newspaper.

the front/back/rear seat (=in a car)

▪ Never leave bags on the back seat of a car.

the front/back/rear/side entrance

▪ There is a long drive with steps leading to the front entrance.

the front/back/side door (=of a house)

▪ I heard someone knocking at the front door.

▪ Use the back door if your boots are muddy.

there and back

▪ It’s too far to drive there and back in one day.

there’s no turning back (=you cannot change this)

▪ We’ve promised to help, and there’s no turning back!

tie...back

▪ I tie my hair back when I’m jogging.

Welcome back

▪ Welcome back – it’s good to see you again.

well back

▪ Stand well back from the edge of the platform.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ VERB

win

▪ The child must know how to win back the favour of its parents.

▪ Over time, both parents won back their authority, he said.

▪ He missed Josh terribly, but knew there was no way of winning back his affections at the moment.

▪ They must build her a great temple near the town and so win back the favor of her heart.

▪ He campaigned tirelessly to win back the twice yearly courts or assizes, which Buckingham had lost to Aylesbury.

▪ Right now our goal is to win back the House.

▪ Now it's up to you to win back your right to choose.

▪ After Fitzgerald won back his job through a court fight, the generals made sure he was given nothing to do.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(go) back to the drawing board

▪ Voters rejected the bridge expansion plan, so it's back to the drawing board for city engineers.

▪ For San Jose, it was back to the drawing board.

▪ So Superman, once the most recognized and revered hero in comic books, was sent back to the drawing board.

▪ Sometimes, you also have to go back to the drawing board.

▪ The Cta episode has therefore sent the whole idea of direct dating of petroglyphs back to the drawing board.

▪ They must go back to the drawing board and review the whole of youth training.

▪ They want to see the road plan sent back to the drawing board.

▪ You also could go back to the drawing board with that budget, trying to reduce costs.

▪ You have to discard the propeller engine and go back to the drawing board.

I'll be right with you/right there/right back

a monkey on your back

a pat on the back

▪ I think you all deserve a pat on the back for your hard work.

▪ I think we should give Fairclough a pat on the back for his performances in the last few games.

▪ It amounts to a pat on the back.

▪ Just a smile or a pat on the back may keep a student working.

▪ No one gets past him without an encouraging word, a pat on the back, a smile.

▪ Now congratulate your loved one and give yourself a pat on the back as well for your own agility around the course.

▪ That was intended to be a pat on the back - as one of several others - for me.

▪ The tournament-sponsoring Thunderbirds deserve a pat on the back.

▪ Try starting with a pat on the back to soften the blow of criticism.

a slap on the back

▪ a congratulatory slap on the back

back in the day

back on the rails

▪ He was back on the rails, and moving again.

▪ It seems that matters have fallen behind schedule and need to be put back on the rails.

back seat driver

back to basics

▪ A constructive response to the Howie Report would be more pertinent than saloon-bar simplicities about getting back to basics.

▪ His party claims to be the party of law and order, the family, back to basics.

▪ In other words, forget your fancy gender studies: the neo-Darwinists were marching us back to basics.

▪ Last Wednesday was all about back to basics and glimpses of optimism.

▪ Now, however, it seems that the route to success may once again involve going back to basics.

▪ This month's personal finance column therefore takes a back to basics look at expatriate tax.

▪ Try to counter nervousness by getting right back to basics.

back to nature

▪ He longed to explore, to take the wild adventure of going completely back to nature.

▪ Such language glances back to nature worship.

▪ When people talk of going back to nature, do they really know what they are asking for?

back-handed compliment

▪ It's a back-handed compliment really, you know.

bad heart/leg/back etc

▪ A sweetheart, this little lady, not bad legs either.

▪ For Joshua, at sixty-two, and suffering from a bad leg, distances had begun to take on an extraordinary significance.

▪ He had a bad back as well, you know, just like Rich.

▪ He had a bad leg and they kept on at him to hurry up.

▪ Medical deferment for a very bad heart.

▪ That coming from him who would go sick with a bad back whenever a job tired him.

▪ The problems-from bad backs to carpal tunnel syndrome to headaches-have made the headlines of every health magazine in the country.

be back in business

▪ After appearing to be in terminal decline the monarchy is back in business.

▪ By the summer of 1992 the dress patrols were back in business.

▪ Last week, Peron was back in business, with a few cosmetic changes.

▪ Male speaker We're setting up in another hangar and hope to be back in business soon.

▪ Nice to see Dave Hill's barber is back in business.

▪ Stop Press: Liverpool is back in business.

▪ The company was back in business.

▪ The Cumberland Tavern - now under new management - is back in business as a rock venue.

be back where you started

▪ If we lose tomorrow, we'll be back where we started.

▪ And if you decide that they are not, then you are back where you started.

▪ So my client and I are back where we started.

▪ To a large extent we are back where we started.

be flat on your back

▪ Arthur was flat on his back under the car.

▪ I've been flat on my back with the flu all week.

▪ Babs said it was all very well but had he forgotten their leading man was flat on his back in Sefton General?

▪ What else would he need if he were going to be flat on his back or stomach?

be glad/pleased etc to see the back of sb/sth

be thrown back on sth

▪ For first time in his life, he was being thrown back on the his own resources.

▪ He was about to be thrown back on the bloody rubbish heap, or worse.

▪ The result is that they are thrown back on their own individual and collective resources.

be transported back to/into sth

▪ He had only to pick one of them up to be transported back to the time and place of its acquisition.

▪ Years later, at a sound, sight or scent, you can be transported back to that place.

be/get back on your feet

▪ But we are reliably informed that Angus will be back on his feet and more importantly that seat tomorrow.

▪ He got back on his feet, and they all made another parade around the stage.

▪ In those early years, Macey helped Dole literally get back on his feet.

▪ It was an inexpensive, safe, stable environment for families while they got back on their feet.

▪ Never got back on her feet again, really.

▪ The Mirror Group would soon be back on its feet.

▪ We can get back on our feet.

bite sth ↔ back

blink back/away tears

▪ I noticed that his hands were trembling slightly, and he seemed to be blinking back tears.

▪ She needed to blink away tears.

▪ Touching the welt, Howard tried to blink back tears before going inside.

break the back of sth

▪ A combination of ground and air action broke the back of the rebellion.

▪ His two interceptions Sunday broke the back of the Pittsburgh Steelers as Dallas won the duel in the desert, 27-17.

▪ In Czechoslovakia last March Martin Keown nearly broke the back of the net with a long-range effort.

▪ It would have been nice for him to wind things up by breaking the back of Britain's opposition to integration.

▪ Pouring over its latest simulation runs, Sun is confident it has broken the back of the technical problem.

▪ Their thunderous charges have broken the back of many an invading army.

bring sb back to sth

▪ Food brought me back to the human face.

▪ He had felt ashamed the first time he put it on: it brought him back to his ugliness.

▪ Polishing with a soft cloth will bring the surface back to life.

▪ She brings the papers back to her office and shuts the door.

▪ This brings us back to the expressive order.

▪ We must bring that cup back to Oxfordshire.

▪ Which brings us back to red wine.

▪ Which brings us back to why this period is one of some urgency.

bring sb ↔ back

bring sth ↔ back

call (sb) back

can do sth with one hand (tied) behind your back

cast your mind back

▪ Cast you mind back a few weeks to the Athletics Championship in Armagh.

▪ He frowned, casting his mind back over the conversation they had held.

▪ Henry cast his mind back to the fateful evening.

▪ Lisa, if you cast your mind back, I think you'll recall that it was your idea.

▪ Again, more in control of matters, he cast his mind back.

▪ He cast his mind back to his homecoming earlier that evening.

▪ He racked his brains, he cast his mind back.

▪ I cast my mind back to our excited departure from Gatwick airport.

▪ Let us cast our minds back to the referendum.

come back/down to earth (with a bump)

▪ Adai can come back to Earth after Gog is dead - after I am dead, perhaps.

▪ AIr travellers came down to earth with a bump yesterday when they joined in some charity aerobics.

▪ In Karuzi you quickly come down to earth.

▪ Maybe, but the once pricey products that use this satellite technology have come down to earth.

▪ Peter Lilley came down to earth.

▪ They recently have come down to Earth.

cut sth ↔ back

fight sth ↔ back

front/rear/back wheels

get in through the back door

get sb back

get sth ↔ back

get your own back (on sb)

▪ But you can get your own back.

▪ By launching the new forum Mr Heseltine is getting his own back on the now weakened Mr Lamont.

▪ I've gotta get my own back.

▪ I hope you haven't gone and done anything silly to it just to get your own back for me going away.

▪ The only way Scott could get his own back was by replacing my voice during the post-production.

▪ Tupac stoked the feud, claiming to have slept with Biggie Smalls's wife, Smalls threatened to get his own back.

▪ Was that a way of getting his own back?

▪ Women get their own back by borrowing their man's razor.

go to hell and back

have eyes in the back of your head

▪ When you're looking after a two year old, you need to have eyes in the back of your head.

▪ You need to have eyes in the back of your head to be a teacher.

hold (sb) back

▪ His wife had to hold him back.

▪ I had to eat with one hand and hold the hair back with the other-it was so fiddly.

▪ No walls, no fences, nothing to hold him back.

▪ Suddenly she holds some back as if still determined to drive the hardest possible bargain.

▪ That wildfire feeling might have got a hold a month back, but it would not be allowed to do so again.

▪ The whistle postponed it, held it back until announcing the morning shift at six.

hold sb/sth ↔ back

▪ I had to eat with one hand and hold the hair back with the other-it was so fiddly.

▪ Its plush vegetation crowded the restraining fence that had been made strong, damned near impregnable, to hold it back.

▪ No walls, no fences, nothing to hold him back.

▪ Suddenly she holds some back as if still determined to drive the hardest possible bargain.

▪ That wildfire feeling might have got a hold a month back, but it would not be allowed to do so again.

▪ The whistle postponed it, held it back until announcing the morning shift at six.

hold sb/sth ↔ back

▪ His wife had to hold him back.

▪ I had to eat with one hand and hold the hair back with the other-it was so fiddly.

▪ Its plush vegetation crowded the restraining fence that had been made strong, damned near impregnable, to hold it back.

▪ No walls, no fences, nothing to hold him back.

▪ Suddenly she holds some back as if still determined to drive the hardest possible bargain.

▪ That wildfire feeling might have got a hold a month back, but it would not be allowed to do so again.

▪ The whistle postponed it, held it back until announcing the morning shift at six.

hold sth ↔ back

▪ His wife had to hold him back.

▪ I had to eat with one hand and hold the hair back with the other-it was so fiddly.

▪ Its plush vegetation crowded the restraining fence that had been made strong, damned near impregnable, to hold it back.

▪ No walls, no fences, nothing to hold him back.

▪ Suddenly she holds some back as if still determined to drive the hardest possible bargain.

▪ That wildfire feeling might have got a hold a month back, but it would not be allowed to do so again.

hold sth ↔ back

▪ His wife had to hold him back.

▪ Its plush vegetation crowded the restraining fence that had been made strong, damned near impregnable, to hold it back.

▪ Suddenly she holds some back as if still determined to drive the hardest possible bargain.

▪ That wildfire feeling might have got a hold a month back, but it would not be allowed to do so again.

▪ The whistle postponed it, held it back until announcing the morning shift at six.

it fell off the back of a lorry

keep sb ↔ back

keep sth ↔ back

knock sb back

knock sb back sth

knock sth ↔ back

lie back and think of England

like water off a duck's back

my head/back etc is killing me

never look back

▪ After Berg left baseball in 1978, he never looked back.

▪ After this he would never look back.

▪ And it was a strange feeling for Lois when she saw Paul do just that and never look back.

▪ He grabbed the points race lead for good in late April and virtually never looked back.

▪ Her studies were interrupted by the opportunity to go into local politics, from which she has never looked back.

▪ Mandy Rice-Davies meant good times, and never looking back.

▪ Once he learned to ride his gains and cut his losses, he never looked back.

▪ She never looked back to see what was chasing her, just woke in a cramped sweat, breathless and in tears.

▪ Today their dreams have come true partially because they burned their bridges and never looked back.

pat sb/yourself on the back

▪ She should pat herself on the back and take a well-earned break.

▪ Because when I pat myself on the back, the next sensation is usually a sharp kick lower down.

▪ Cliff Nudelman pats me on the back.

▪ Every person on the street will pat you on the back.

▪ For most of that ride it patted itself on the back.

▪ How dare she wave her bloody job at us like she wanted us to pat her on the back for it?

▪ I patted him on the back as hard as I dared but he still couldn't breathe.

▪ The manager patted Stuart on the back.

▪ This time I patted myself on the back all the way to the hotel.

pull sth ↔ back

put a clock/watch back

put sb/sth ↔ back

put sth ↔ back

put the clock(s) back/forward

▪ Anyway, even if one wanted to, one couldn't put the clock back to an earlier age.

▪ I can't put the clock back.

▪ They were therefore accused of putting the clock back and bringing the best hope of Christendom to an impasse.

put the roses back in sb's cheeks

put your back out

put/leave sth on the back burner

put/turn the clock back

▪ If I could turn the clock back, I don't think I'd study law again.

▪ It would be nice to put the clock back to the years when Mum and Dad were still alive.

▪ He thinks you can turn the clock back.

▪ It was almost like turning the clock back a couple of centuries.

▪ Not unless they fell into Morton's hands. Turn the clock back.

▪ Or not lie, maybe. Turn the clock back.

▪ The most important thing now is not to turn the clock back.

▪ This great divide can not be bridged by turning the clock back.

▪ We can not turn the clock back.

▪ What is past is past and you can not turn the clock back.

rick your back/neck

ride on sb's shoulders/back

▪ Better than that was riding on his back while he went down on hands and knees and neighed like a horse.

▪ Dostoevsky wanted to stifle the thought that he was riding on the back of Nechacv's perverse glamour.

▪ Just by riding on your shoulders, Newt.

▪ Oblivious to the emotion riding on their backs, Aureole and Pinza came to Epsom with excellent credentials.

▪ Or you can ride on my back, if you prefer.

▪ People on welfare are not taking a ride on the backs of other people.

▪ Power can not ride on an upright back.

rise/come back/return from the dead

▪ A few weeks later Patrick Ashby came back from the dead and went home to inherit the family house and fortune.

▪ Friends don't come back from the dead, Leila thought, rampaging through the corridor from the canteen.

▪ The single engine airplane business came back from the dead after the General Aviation Revitalization Act made it harder to sue.

▪ When Cardiff had come back from the dead, he had shrunk away back down the hessian-screen corridor towards Rohmer.

roll back the years

▪ But he rolled back the years wearing his old jockeys' uniform in the Radcliffe Selling Stakes at Nottingham.

set sb/sth ↔ back

slap sb on the back

▪ Forbes slapped me on the back.

▪ He rushed over and slapped me on the back as I lifted a highball to my lips.

▪ I go to slap her on the back but she waves my arm away impatiently.

▪ In those days it was considered bad form even to slap you on the back.

▪ Jack said, and he slapped Streeter on the back of the head with his gun hand.

▪ She slapped him on the back.

▪ She intended to slap Elisabeth on the back, but she was too late.

stab in the back

▪ I was stabbed in the back because I don't have those problems with Steve.

▪ It's so many stabs in the back ... It's the whole system which is tucking us up.

▪ MacQuillan had been stabbed in the back, there were no palm or fingerprints on the weapon.

▪ Nationalists supported the Wilson/Callaghan governments for years, only to be stabbed in the back in the end.

stab sb in the back

▪ He seems friendly, but he wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the back if he thought it would help him get your job.

▪ Thatcher was stabbed in the back by her former friends and colleagues in the Conservative Party.

▪ I see, you criticize my appearance, and then you stab me in the back!

▪ Some one reached through an open window and stabbed Bastidas in the back.

▪ Why stab Manchester in the back for helping to create a bigger northern network of clubs, raves and fashion outlets?

take a back seat

▪ Women have often been forced to take a back seat in society.

▪ And very generally, the interests of lenders in New York take a back seat to the interests of the corporate borrowers.

▪ But when they were introduced, everything upstairs had to take a back seat.

▪ He notes, however, that economic considerations are taking a back seat to budget negotiations.

▪ If you can't agree to disagree, then take a back seat and let others have their way on this occasion.

▪ It was also a year when investment bankers took a back seat.

▪ Many feel reluctant to take a back seat and allow their children to enjoy the special attractiveness of the teens and twenties.

▪ Mr Peters has now taken a back seat.

▪ That her family had taken a back seat in her life.

take a back seat (to sb/sth)

▪ Quality will have to take a back seat to price when we buy the new furniture.

▪ And very generally, the interests of lenders in New York take a back seat to the interests of the corporate borrowers.

▪ As the race drew closer it was time for Paul to take a back seat.

▪ But when they were introduced, everything upstairs had to take a back seat.

▪ Golf Faldo forced to take a back seat to Walker Cup team.

▪ He notes, however, that economic considerations are taking a back seat to budget negotiations.

▪ It was also a year when investment bankers took a back seat.

▪ Long-term planning took a back seat in the deliberations of the senior engineers whose efforts were principally devoted to overcoming short-term problems.

▪ Turning the original classic topsy-turvy, Stoppard makes Hamlet himself take a back seat and elevates two minor characters to star status.

take sth ↔ back

the clocks go back/forward

▪ I, like many other riders, am eagerly awaiting the clocks going forward.

▪ Police say they had to enforce the law after 1am when the clocks went forward an hour.

▪ When the clocks go back in late October it will be dark by five o'clock in the afternoon.

the small of your back

▪ A hot water bottle in the small of your back should help.

▪ As the skaters skated, they sometimes tucked one arm into the small of their backs.

▪ But then he was sandwiched between the door and the floor level, concrete lip digging into the small of his back.

▪ Her white sweatshirt is bunched up and tucked in at the small of her back, so her rear is exposed.

▪ I could see the great livid weals of scars running across the small of her back and down her mighty thighs.

▪ I stroke the small of his back.

▪ She moved her hand to the small of his back and propelled him across the porch.

▪ When he stepped forward to use the other hand, something cracked into the small of his back, and he stumbled.

there's no going back

▪ There's no going back, even if I wanted to, which I don't.

▪ Too late you realize that there's no going back.

there's no holding sb (back)

▪ For Casey, there was no holding back when it came to music.

throw sth (back) in sb's face

▪ It was no fun having my own words thrown back at me by my kids.

▪ A lot of their love would be rebuffed or thrown back in their faces.

▪ My love - my name thrown back in my face.

▪ Nobody was throwing anything in their faces.

▪ This would be thrown back in his face later by North Koreaand sooner than anyone guessed.

turn your back (on sb/sth)

▪ He turned his back on Shauna and walked to the window.

▪ He would never turn his back on a fellow veteran.

▪ Many immigrants turn their back on the old ways.

▪ He turned his back abruptly and walked away.

▪ He acknowledged his paternity when he could have easily turned his back on him and told him he was a servant.

▪ I handed him back that hundred dollars and turned my back and took him in.

▪ Kissinger said it was disgraceful that the United States had turned its back on one of her oldest and closest friends.

▪ So in the end I turned my back on it and walked away.

▪ Weaken, turn your back for a moment and it could be lost for good.

▪ Wiltshire's Social Services department has promised not to turn its back on the problem of alcoholics.

watch your back

▪ He may be prime minister for now, but he still needs to watch his back.

▪ Besides which, I needed an ally at the shop, some one to watch my back should things get hairy.

▪ But watch your back when I get out, all right?

▪ But Yeltsin will have to watch his back.

▪ Drug traffickers and guerrillas mix with spies and mercenaries, all cautiously watching their backs.

▪ Enjoy it, but watch your back.

▪ Other agents are watching his back, he says.

▪ She watched his back for a moment.

▪ She noticed that everyone seemed to have drifted a little closer; was talking a little less, watching their backs.

you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

▪ Can you call me back later?

▪ Carol yelled back, "If it's so easy, you come and have a go!''

▪ Do you think Ron and his wife will get back together?

▪ He looked back over his shoulder.

▪ He stepped back and fell.

▪ I'll check back with you sometime next week.

▪ I'll have to get back to you on that.

▪ I left a message, but I haven't heard anything back.

▪ I should be back in time for dinner.

▪ I stepped back to let them pass.

▪ I was making $15 an hour back at the hospital.

▪ I woke up at 4 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep.

▪ If a starfish loses a leg, it grows back.

▪ If Jamie rings, tell him I'll call him back.

▪ It's time I got back to work.

▪ It was a beautiful day, so I decided to walk back to the office.

▪ Michelle looked back at him over her shoulder and smiled.

▪ Play the tape back for me, okay?

▪ She left home in 1995 and hasn't been back since.

▪ That's mine! Give it back!

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

▪ Gradually, the children came trickling back.

▪ He'd tried to study it back in the Store.

▪ He was too wet and cold to think about going back out into the rain.

▪ I lay back like a king lion and let her romp.

▪ It helps when I have the option to go back to defense.

▪ It took me a year and a half to come back.

▪ Some time during the afternoon they decided not to go back but to stay overnight.

▪ Then she turns on her heel, comes back, and demands to know why N J stood her up.

II.noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

bad

▪ He had a bad back as well, you know, just like Rich.

▪ The problems-from bad backs to carpal tunnel syndrome to headaches-have made the headlines of every health magazine in the country.

▪ That coming from him who would go sick with a bad back whenever a job tired him.

▪ I have met knitters with bad backs, frozen shoulders, tennis elbows and so on from doing to much knitting at a time.

▪ A bad back sidelined him for six games in 1996 but he has been healthy through most of this year.

▪ He was a thin, thin-faced man and a bad back suited his dignity.

flat

▪ Spurs' humiliation was compounded when Lineker mis-kicked wildly a few feet in front of goal and fell flat on his back.

▪ Even when the economy in the Midwest came back in the late eighties, labor was still flat on its back.

▪ Lie flat on your back and cycle backwards with the legs 30 times.

▪ What else would he need if he were going to be flat on his back or stomach?

▪ Lie flat on your back and bend the knees. 12.

▪ Rosa was sitting on the floor of his flat with her back against his legs.

▪ Lying flat on your back, bend the knees, then raise the legs. 14.

▪ Lie flat on your back and loosen up your hip.

front

▪ Both sides of the body are compared, as well as the balance between front and back of thigh.

▪ During gastrulation the front and back, top and bottom become evident, and the basic body plan is laid down.

▪ The garden or gardens, front and back.

▪ Different sweeps - sideways, front and back, or up and down - each alter different musical attributes.

▪ Each section flies a zig-zag from here to the Front and back.

▪ Finally, a pleasantly-grained veneer of dark ash has been used as a finish on the front and back of the headstock.

▪ The two front seat backs tilt forward and make life easier for people climbing into the rear.

▪ Straight on, either front or back, the human being tends to look somewhat banal.

■ NOUN

way

▪ On the way back he picked up two lost Zeros who followed him back.

▪ Following instructions, I seasoned with so much sodium that my face all the way back beyond my ears puckered up.

▪ Worcester's motto is the faithful city because we were involved in certain civil wars way back.

▪ Then the car swung all the way back, full circle, the lanes of the freeway streaking under me.

▪ I did so and I was the one who bought the half-bottle of brandy at the off-licence on the way back.

▪ On our way back we called in at the field centre, a converted ex-shunter's cabin.

▪ And they weren't worth transporting all the way back.

▪ It seems that he had a breakdown on the way back and had to walk.

■ VERB

arch

▪ She arched her back to aid him.

▪ But at that time, biologists also saw sick, disoriented manatees acting strangely by curling their lips and arching their backs.

▪ The wetness of his tongue as it slipped over them made Kate arch her back with delight.

▪ Vic arched his back and rolled his shoulders and seemed about to yawn.

▪ With her touch he arched his back and made a whimpering sound.

▪ Slowly arch the back and lift the chest and head upwards and back.

▪ Try not to arch the back during this exercise.

break

▪ Once the land round it was worked, but no one these days would break his back over soil so rocky and barren.

▪ His two interceptions Sunday broke the back of the Pittsburgh Steelers as Dallas won the duel in the desert, 27-17.

▪ Then Halfon broke his back in a construction accident.

▪ But he suffered two fractured vertebrae in his neck and a broken lower back in a crash during practice two weeks ago.

▪ Their thunderous charges have broken the back of many an invading army.

▪ It is going to break my back, both of us know it, and there is no choice.

▪ That was the straw which broke the camel's back and in the following 16 minutes United's game fell apart.

▪ Like the steeplechase where Vronsky breaks his mare's back with reckless riding, you can only wait for the pistol shot.

hit

▪ But yes, I had. Hit in the back.

▪ Police said Stanton was hit on the back of the head with a gun during the ordeal.

▪ The first bullet hit him in the back, severing his spine.

▪ Two fingers hit the back of the opposite hand amidst ribald guffaws.

▪ In Bath last Wednesday, one hit him on the back of the neck and a woman was arrested.

▪ She said she hit the back of her hand on the platen and then everything went black.

▪ Could there have been a fight causing him to fall and hit the back of his head on something?

▪ The spent casings were hitting the back of me, and the concussion was pushing my head down.

lie

▪ I lay on my back with my legs in the air and pushed.

▪ But Tho was lying on his back in the water, clutching his rifle, his arms wide-flung.

▪ As a girl she had lain always on her back, proud, determined.

▪ So he lay on his back next to her, his head on the other pillow.

▪ Now, you get down from the chair and lie on your back on the bench.

▪ They lie on their backs in a trailer, a big one and a small one, looking more asleep than dead.

▪ A pair of trousers lay across the back of a chair and his pyjamas were stuffed untidily beneath the pillow.

▪ I lay on my back and stared at it.

pat

▪ The manager patted Stuart on the back.

▪ He patted backs and bought drinks, working the room in political style.

▪ This time I patted myself on the back all the way to the hotel.

▪ After his address, Houston worked the crowd, shaking hands, patting backs.

▪ I patted him on the back as hard as I dared but he still couldn't breathe.

▪ Every person on the street will pat you on the back.

▪ How dare she wave her bloody job at us like she wanted us to pat her on the back for it?

▪ Cliff Nudelman pats me on the back.

ride

▪ Better than that was riding on his back while he went down on hands and knees and neighed like a horse.

▪ Or you can ride on my back, if you prefer.

▪ The story told of a Canelos-owned truck that overturned on a highway, killing 21 farmworkers who were riding in the back.

▪ Branch manager Richard Fairhurst took a back seat for the day, as he rode along on the back of a tandem.

▪ Power can not ride on an upright back.

▪ The devil riding my back dug his hard pointy heels into my flesh, but I stayed my ground.

▪ Dostoevsky wanted to stifle the thought that he was riding on the back of Nechacv's perverse glamour.

roll

▪ Shannon rolled on to her back, staring through tear-glazed eyes at the ceiling.

▪ Then he purred and stretched; he rolled over on his back.

▪ Donna rolled on to her back, her eyes half-closed, her limbs numb.

▪ The cat rolls on to its back and pushes itself farther into the light.

▪ On the opposite bank, Luke rolled off her back and lay on the grass.

▪ Danskin rolled over on his back, his belly heaving.

▪ I rolled on my back, stuck my legs in the air and laughed.

▪ Lucky had rolled on his back while he waited.

sit

▪ He and Helga sat at the back of the class, groping each other up in a flurry of smirks and giggles.

▪ I sat in the back of her bicycle.

▪ It is comforting to hear your team-mates shouting their encouragement during a contest. Sit with your back straight and head erect.

▪ Unlike the other candidates, he is always ready to sit in the back of his bus shooting the breeze with reporters.

▪ But Lynnette D'Armande turned her chair round and sat with her back to Broadway.

▪ The red enameled kettle always sits on the back of the stove.

slap

▪ She slapped him on the back.

▪ He slapped my back and said, Maybe so.

▪ Forbes slapped me on the back.

▪ He slapped my back, slapped my butt, then kneaded my flesh.

▪ She intended to slap Elisabeth on the back, but she was too late.

▪ Jack said, and he slapped Streeter on the back of the head with his gun hand.

▪ His father managed to clear the obstruction by slapping Christopher on his back 7 times.

▪ He rushed over and slapped me on the back as I lifted a highball to my lips.

stand

▪ There was nobody else except two strangers who were standing at the back of the church.

▪ He entered the room where the wheelchair stood folded at the back of the tiny cedar closet.

▪ I was standing with my back to the aviary, my jacket almost touching the wire mesh, still puzzled.

▪ McMurphy whoops and drags me standing, pounding my back.

▪ Then she closed the door again and stood with her back against it.

▪ Go to a wall and stand straight with your back against it.

▪ Dexter stood at the back of the conference suite behind the video cameras and serried ranks of reporters.

▪ Two young men have walked in late and are standing around the back of the classroom, halfheartedly looking for seats.

tie

▪ Dangling from it were two thin cords to be tied at the back.

▪ It lifted the accused by a rope around his wrists, which were tied behind his back.

▪ Of 23 bodies she saw, all had been shot in the head with their hands tied behind their backs.

▪ His hands were tied behind his back and he was roped to Kate, whose hands were also bound.

▪ Then I began to realize that my hands were tied behind my back and my legs were also secured to something.

▪ Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were gagged.

▪ They were astride a single horse, tied back to back, being led along a skyline by the sheriff's posse.

turn

▪ Sir Henry was able to scorn convention because he had turned his back on the world.

▪ Alone on the streets, Ezra turned his back.

▪ Why not simply take the hint and turn his back on the village once and for all?

▪ He turned his back to him and opening up his store.

▪ So in the end I turned my back on it and walked away.

▪ If Miguel were excommunicated, Careta would probably turn his back on him if he saw him on the street.

▪ Disillusioned with the ruthlessly ambitious woman he had married, Richard had long ago turned his back on her.

▪ Hicks moved closer to the stove, partly turning his back on her.