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background
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
background
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a background check (=to get information about someone’s previous work, education, family etc)
▪ The company conducts background checks on security employees.
background information (=information explaining what happened before the present situation)
▪ He gave us some background information about the trial.
background knowledge (=knowledge that you need before you can understand or do something)
▪ The test will show what background knowledge a student brings to the course.
background music (=that you hear but do not listen to)
▪ the soft background music in the restaurant
background noise (=noise of things that are happening around you)
▪ The background noise made it hard to hear what he was saying.
background radiation (=the radiation normally present in the environment)
▪ In some parts of the world, background radiation is very high.
be seen against the background of
▪ The unemployment data must be seen against the background of world recession.
cultural background (=the type of society you come from, and its ideas, customs etc)
▪ people from the same cultural background
ethnic origin/background (=the race or country that someone originally came from)
▪ Schools are increasingly composed of pupils of different religions and different ethnic origins.
humble background/origins etc
▪ Iacocca rose from humble beginnings to become boss of Ford.
sb's family background
▪ He comes from a stable family background.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
cultural
▪ In all periods, attention is paid to the social and cultural background which gave rise to the literature.
▪ If the parents have different cultural backgrounds, the tasks of reconciling the image to the reality is more complicated.
▪ Speakers of different languages and cultural backgrounds, and from different social groups, vary quite significantly in their preferred language norms.
▪ Models provide a shared frame of reference for people from different cultural backgrounds.
▪ This is the cultural background against which fraud has been carried out.
▪ Black psychologists crushed the notion that child rearing was the same, regardless of cultural background.
▪ Their cultural background is that of a small rural community where women tend to go out with family members or neighbours.
▪ They fill out your cultural background and describe the foods and street life.
different
▪ Assemblies, dress requirements, school meals provision and links with parents may be insensitive to different cultural backgrounds and linguistic diversity.
▪ You have to have good hosts, guys with different backgrounds and personalities.
▪ Both parents were of Breton origin, but of markedly different social backgrounds.
▪ If the parents have different cultural backgrounds, the tasks of reconciling the image to the reality is more complicated.
▪ But despite their different backgrounds, all the men meticulously fasten their seat belts before each journey.
▪ I also believed that these experiences enabled me to communicate with many different kinds of people, from many different backgrounds.
▪ Buyers have different backgrounds, technical expertise and intelligence levels.
▪ Since everyone knows that people of different backgrounds speak differently, why this selective appreciation?
educational
▪ If they are beginning their training, what is their educational background?
▪ Managers come from a variety of educational backgrounds.
▪ Otley found that a rising proportion of senior army officers had elite educational backgrounds.
▪ All students, regardless of their educational backgrounds, come with some basic observations and knowledge about science.
▪ There was snobbery, and attitudes formed by social and educational background.
▪ All of us do have good educational backgrounds.
▪ Undifferentiated comparisons which ignore parental occupations and educational backgrounds and environmental conditions like housing are also of very limited value.
▪ Because of the diversity of duties and levels of responsibility, their educational backgrounds and experience vary considerably.
ethnic
▪ Maternity work with women from varied ethnic backgrounds developed my interest into health education and promotion.
▪ No matter our actual ethnic background or political philosophies, we are all Protestant capitalists longing for permission to play.
▪ For many years a child from an ethnic background with problems has received twice the average funding.
▪ Clearly, emerging infections can affect people everywhere, regardless of lifestyle, cultural or ethnic background, or socioeconomic status.
▪ The latter are usually discriminated against by overt racist language which denigrates a person's colour and ethnic background.
▪ The racial and ethnic background of pregnant and parenting teens varies, of course, in different parts of the country.
▪ Might his experiences be the result of his own unique person rather than his ethnic background?
▪ The study included 548 Massachusetts schoolchildren of various ethnic backgrounds who were aged 11 and 12.
historical
▪ The flock receives virtually no historical background from its shepherd - who is believed to be the definitive authority on such matters.
▪ Some theological and historical background is necessary before examining the present acclamations of the Roman mass.
▪ Howard Carter's own sketches, excavation notes, photographs, diaries and letters provide the historical background to the finds.
▪ His many references to the Kingdom recorded in the Gospels must be seen against this historical background and contemporary context.
▪ The historical background provided in this chapter helps us understand some of these diagnoses as well as some of the prescriptions.
▪ It is crucial to understand the historical background.
▪ As a preliminary to this, it is necessary to describe something of the historical background to interwar West Ham.
humble
▪ She wanted university endowments to be used to fund poor preachers and scholars from humble backgrounds.
▪ Republican Presidents of the late twentieth century-Eisenhower, Nixon, Fordhad all been men of humble background and no inherited wealth.
privileged
▪ In addition a doctor mentioned the advantage of his privileged background and several people indicated that they came from medical families.
▪ It gives those of a less privileged social background better opportunities for appointment and promotion.
similar
▪ Most people in bands have quite similar backgrounds and I reckon a lot of them shared the same experience as I did.
▪ These men often have similar backgrounds and philosophies of life which lead to similar results and successes.
▪ This epoch was to pass, after Adams's presidency, into similar backgrounds and were very closely interrelated.
▪ The congressional leaders with whom they dealt had similar backgrounds and a similar preoccupation.
▪ Arthur Newsholme, Newman's older colleague, had his origins in a similar nonconformist background.
▪ Applicants should have a degree in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology or a similar background.
▪ We have a very similar Northern background, are roughly the same age and have the same sense of humour.
social
▪ Restored quarrymen's cottages at Gloddfa Ganol show the social background of the industrial workers.
▪ The men and women I have met come from all sorts of social and employment backgrounds.
▪ Childhood cancers, including leukaemia, can strike a healthy child at random, regardless of race, social background or creed.
▪ Both parents were of Breton origin, but of markedly different social backgrounds.
▪ It must be seen against the social background of early Anglo-Saxon society in the seventh century.
▪ O'Connor had had sentence deferred for psychiatric and social background reports last month.
▪ There was snobbery, and attitudes formed by social and educational background.
▪ It has long been known in education circles that a clear correlation exists between social class background and examination success.
white
▪ The bedroom is wallpapered, both on walls and ceiling, with a delicate tiny pink flower motif on a white background.
▪ Interspersed throughout these pieces are short items in smaller type on white backgrounds about similar figures from real life or other media.
▪ Bold stripes in any one of six colours are set against a crisp white background.
▪ She wore a low-cut cotton sundress, a bright green-and-yellow geometric print on a white background.
▪ A white background to this black patch is set in otherwise clear finnage.
▪ One woman, of white Southern background, said her family believed they were related to Pocahontas.
▪ He worked out of doors, with natural light and a white background.
▪ Today it is usually decanted against an electric light or white background.
■ NOUN
check
▪ California requires a 15-day waiting period and a background check on all purchasers, even on sales between private parties.
▪ In the realm of Pop Warner youth football, Dilatush says, some leagues require a criminal background check for every volunteer.
▪ Commerce officials now say they wish a foreign background check had been done, even though it was not required.
▪ The council voted 5-2 to examine how Colorado and Oregon have handled the background check loophole.
▪ Licenses would be issued only to those 21 and older who pass a background check.
▪ Local law enforcement officials have just 48 hours to complete a background check of prospective gun purchasers.
▪ McWilliams said a background check would have revealed little because the man had no criminal record.
class
▪ Differences in gender experience, as well as class background, will be explored in each aspect of inquiry.
▪ All are from upper-middle-#class backgrounds, since their parents are largely professionals, and they attended predominantly white high schools.
▪ In terms of class background, some of these factors are more sharply tilted than others - and not all the same way.
▪ Others demonstrated that people's post-school careers were also dependent upon their social class background.
▪ It has long been known in education circles that a clear correlation exists between social class background and examination success.
▪ These jobbing photographers came from a class background similar to those whom they served.
▪ They are socially mobile, many of them having risen from working class backgrounds to new heights in the class structure.
▪ Evidence from different nationalities and different class backgrounds suggests an overall pattern to discourse about race and prejudice.
colour
▪ Carriage at right: Knit 1 row to left with background colour. * Carriage at left: Pick up colour 2.
▪ First paint a background colour and let it dry.
▪ Next stick strips of low-tack masking tape over the areas of background colour that you want to remain.
▪ The rectangles drawn around the row numbers indicate the rows on which you knit with the background colour.
▪ The background colour will select to knit normally and the black areas will create the tucks.
▪ It also means that the choice of background colour is vital.
▪ If you choose the background colour, the effect will probably be subtle.
▪ In fact there are six, including the background colour, which means that six colours have been used for this design.
family
▪ Ritu had been chosen on account of her suitable family background and her fair complexion.
▪ All the attributes and a good family background.
▪ In his family background and dealings with people there is no suggestion that the material world is intrinsically evil.
▪ The greatest influence was, of course, the aptitude the student brought to school-something. determined largely by family background.
▪ It is the security of that family background which is the basic need of any child.
▪ The Northridge man has a family background of high blood pressure and strokes.
▪ In the family background there was a death.
▪ It might well be factors outside the control of the workers and the manager-like students' family backgrounds.
information
▪ If healing loss is sudden, and it is severe or total, the withdrawal of this background information happens instantaneously.
▪ The attorneys presented background information on the case.
▪ The knowledge of a critic is useful here for filling in relevant background information.
▪ In all honesty, it is probably worth more than the $ 30 asking price for the background information alone.
▪ This provided background information which was extended through visits.
▪ He then typed in the correct background information, along with the date June 15, 1949.
▪ In documentary-style demonstration material the commentary is used to provide background information.
▪ There are also chapters with background information on birding and a list of species with range maps.
knowledge
▪ Unfortunately many of the science schemes on the market assume a depth of background knowledge which not all teachers have.
▪ Their background knowledge of an institution is typically and corporately small, and sojourn within its walls brief.
▪ In addition, the introduction to each Resource Book gives you vital background knowledge about the concepts and methodology underlying each technique.
▪ Basic assumptions and background knowledge are not referenced.
▪ There is unlikely to be a consensus definition of the boundaries between background knowledge and the specific issues addressed in individual papers.
▪ A little background knowledge will make you more confident and help you to draw up a list of really relevant questions.
▪ The books demystify language teaching theory, and provide invaluable background knowledge which will extend professional skills.
▪ Does the background knowledge assumed seem appropriate for your child?
music
▪ No need to interrupt the background music just to page the concierge.
▪ To almost deafening background music, she does take a lover.
▪ She could even hear background music, syrupy and soothing, in her head.
▪ Sometimes there's jazz, sometimes classical, but there's always good background music.
▪ As well as providing background music, the stand will include an ongoing workshop demonstrating the process of producing new pieces.
▪ They provided background music while people ate and talked, played cards, to give you a pleasant ambience.
▪ Here the sound of running water can be heard like faint background music.
noise
▪ Later it may possibly be used in ordinary conversation, but again quiet circumstances avoid interference from the background noise.
▪ Repetitive stimuli are relegated to background noise and, like the ticking of that clock, are not heard until they stop.
▪ This may account for certain background noises in the tracks!
▪ If under-modulated, there will be a lot of background noise and weak results.
▪ Carpets, carpet tiles or rubberised floors help to keep background noise low, allowing meaningful sounds to be more audible.
▪ The voice could then be raised until the instrument responded to it above the level of the background noise.
■ VERB
come
▪ It would be an opportunity for reflection specifically for people coming with a background of development experience and practice.
▪ A few came from relatively privileged backgrounds.
▪ Both came from affluent backgrounds and were educated at Ivy League schools.
▪ He said both men came from deprived backgrounds and bore a grudge against the area in which they lived.
▪ They come from a tough background.
▪ United by their love of comedy they come from diverse backgrounds in London and Surrey.
▪ Researchers discovered that successful drivers came from every socioeconomic background.
form
▪ Furthermore, Geophysics forms an excellent background for those concerned with the control and development of our environment.
▪ All those little gestures formed hut a background to the real art of seduction.
▪ It is the fates of these kingdoms which form the background of El Cid's area of greatest activity.
▪ The failure to adjust to retirement can form the background to future poor health, and many other age-related problems.
▪ In modern music we have small ostinato figurations, note-groups or rhythms, which form the background to musical sections.
▪ The regional overviews will form the background for detailed case studies of the engineering sector.
▪ It was this atmosphere that formed the perfect background to a display of starlings gathering at their night-time roost.
▪ So had the cheerful chat and bustle that had formed the barely noticed background to our conversation.
provide
▪ One of the three Institutes leads each study and provides background papers.
▪ They provided background music while people ate and talked, played cards, to give you a pleasant ambience.
▪ Howard Carter's own sketches, excavation notes, photographs, diaries and letters provide the historical background to the finds.
▪ But for now, the following notes should inform and provide the background for the library or bookstore trip.
▪ Both studies provide a necessary background to understanding some of the problems now faced by government.
▪ The books demystify language teaching theory, and provide invaluable background knowledge which will extend professional skills.
▪ General exploration provides the background that enables us to link up otherwise unrelated items.
▪ Regional geochemical maps provide information on background levels of metals against which environmental degradation can be monitored.
set
▪ In the West its enormous popularity was as a love story set against the epic background of the Revolution and its aftermath.
▪ It set up a moaning background noise that would occasionally gust into prominence, then lapse again to mere accompaniment.
▪ The island's strange beauty, however, was set against a background of racial and political conflict.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ All of the men have different religious backgrounds.
▪ Gary always tried to hide his working class background.
▪ How quickly kids learn to read will often depend on both their ability and their backgrounds.
▪ In our class we have children of all different religious and ethnic backgrounds.
▪ It took five years for the author to research background information for her new book
▪ It was a photo of everyone in my class, with the school building in the background.
▪ Most of his friends were from similar middle-class backgrounds.
▪ Steve has a background in computer engineering.
▪ Sylvie had always expected that she would marry someone of a similar background to herself.
▪ The elections are taking place against a background of widespread unemployment.
▪ The flag's five orange stripes stand out against a silver background.
▪ The invitations had red lettering on a white background.
▪ The organization helps children from working-class backgrounds to go to university.
▪ The school takes kids from all sorts of backgrounds.
▪ We come from the same town and share a similar background.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A small building in the background of the original picture was a church built in 1882, McLelland said.
▪ And using Cousin Franklin as a premier background source, Joe was able to add considerably to his wealth and fame.
▪ If she was stuck with wanting a man whose background and conditioning were alien to her, then that was her problem.
▪ McWilliams said a background check would have revealed little because the man had no criminal record.
▪ O'Connor had had sentence deferred for psychiatric and social background reports last month.
▪ Passing sentence, Lord Sutherland said he took into account Hynd's domestic background.
▪ She would have preferred a woman of her own age and background.
▪ The grating broadcasts sometimes switched to tapes of radio call-in shows and other background sounds of an electronic civilization.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
background

background \back"ground`\, n. [Back, a. + ground.]

  1. Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.

  2. (Paint.) The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures.

    Note: The distance in a picture is usually divided into foreground, middle distance, and background.
    --Fairholt.

  3. Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings.

  4. A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.

    I fancy there was a background of grinding and waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly finished . . . performance.
    --Mrs. Alexander.

    A husband somewhere in the background.
    --Thackeray.

  5. The set of conditions within which an action takes place, including the social and physical conditions as well as the psychological states of the participants; as, within the background of the massive budget deficits of the 1980's, new spending programs had little chance of passage by the congress.

  6. The set of conditions that precede and affect an action, such as the social and historical precedents for the event, as well as the general background[5]; as, against the background of their expulsion by the Serbs, the desire of Kosovars for vengeance is understandable though regrettable.

  7. (Science) The signals that may be detected by a measurement which are not due to the phenomenon being studied, and tend to make the measurement uncertain to a greater or lesser degree. Specifically: (Physics) Electronic noise present in a system using electronic measuring instrument or in a telecommunications system, which may hide and which must be differentiated from the desired signal; also called background noise or noise.

  8. (Journalism) An agreement between a journalist and an interviewee that the name of the interviewee will not be quoted in any publication, although the substance of the remarks may be reported; -- often used in the phrase ``on background''. Compare deep background.

    To place in the background, to make of little consequence.

    To keep in the background, to remain unobtrusive, inconspicuous or out of sight; -- of people.

    deep background, (Journalism) the status of an interview which must not be quoted in a publication, even without attribution. Compare background[8].

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
background

1670s, from back (adj.) + ground (n.); original sense was theatrical, later applied to painting. Figurative sense is first attested 1854.

Wiktionary
background

  1. Less important in a scenery. n. 1 One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously. 2 A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context. v

  2. To put in a position that is not prominent

Related phrases:
WordNet
background

  1. n. a person's social heritage: previous experience or training; "he is a lawyer with a sports background"

  2. the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground; "he posed her against a background of rolling hills" [syn: ground]

  3. information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem; "the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident" [syn: background knowledge]

  4. extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured; "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals" [syn: background signal]

  5. relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation; "when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"

  6. the state of the environment in which a situation exists; "you can't do that in a university setting" [syn: setting, scope]

  7. (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear [syn: desktop, screen background]

  8. scenery hung at back of stage [syn: backdrop, backcloth]

background

v. understate the importance or quality of; "he played down his royal ancestry" [syn: play down, downplay] [ant: foreground, foreground]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Background (1973 film)

Background is a 1973 American short documentary film directed by Carmen D'Avino. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Background (TV series)

Background was a Canadian journalistic television series which aired on CBC Television from 1959 to 1962.

Background (1953 film)

Background (U.S. Edge of Divorce) is a 1953 British domestic drama film dealing with the effects of divorce, directed by Daniel Birt and starring Valerie Hobson, Philip Friend and Norman Wooland. It was based on a stage play by Warren Chetham-Strode, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.

A contemporary review in the Glasgow Herald gave the film a muted response, describing Hobson as "shrill" and Wooland as "too sympathetic", adding : " A heroic effort is made to apportion the blame fairly...yet intrinsically, one has to admit, the film has no great success."

Background (Bassi Maestro album)

Background is the fifth studio album by the Italian rapper Bassi Maestro, released in 2002 under Vibrarecords.

Background

Background may refer to:

  • Background (journalism)
  • Computer wallpaper
  • Cultural heritage
  • Ethnic background
  • Field (heraldry), background of a shield
  • Natural heritage
  • Operational definition, distinction between an object from its background of observation; identifying what is and is not part of it
  • Provenance

Performing arts and stagecraft:

  • Background actor
  • Background artist
  • Background light
  • Background music
  • Background story
  • Background vocals

Science and engineering:

  • Background extinction rate
  • Background independence, a condition in theoretical physics
  • Background noise
  • Background radiation, the natural radiation that is always present in a location
    • Background (astronomy), small amounts of light coming from otherwise dark parts of the sky
    • Cosmic background (disambiguation)
    • Gravitational wave background
    • X-ray background
  • Background process, software that is running but not being displayed
  • String background

Recorded works:

  • Background (1953 film), a British drama
  • Background (1973 film), a documentary
  • Background (album), 1992 album by Lifetime
Background (astronomy)

In astronomy, background commonly refers to the incoming light from an apparently empty part of the night sky.

Even if no visible astronomical objects are present in given part of the sky, there always is some low luminosity present, due mostly to light diffusion from the atmosphere (diffusion of both incoming light from nearby sources, and of man-made Earth sources like cities). In the visible band, luminosity level is around the 22nd magnitude per square- arcsecond: a very low level, but anyway well within the limits of the current generation of telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope does not suffer from this problem.

In infrared astronomy, the problem can be much worse: due to the longer wavelengths involved, the sky and the telescope themselves are a source of light. To work around this problem, infrared telescopes often use a technique called , where a mirror rapidly oscillates between the object of interest and the nearby, empty sky. The two images can be subtracted, leaving hopefully only the incoming light from the source.

There are several sources which contribute to the brightness of the (night) sky. Some of these are instrumental, or due to the presence of the atmosphere (like the airglow), in the case of ground based instruments. Even if we able to minimize the effect of instrumental and atmospherical components (e.g. using a spacecraft), there are still several astrophysical components contributing to the sky background: these could be sets of point sources like faint asteroids, Galactic stars and far away galaxies, as well as diffuse sources like dust in the Solar System, in the Milky Way, and in the intergalactic space. The actual importance of a specific component depends mostly of the wavelength of the measurement. The uncertainty (or noise) of the measurements caused by the astrophysical components of the sky background is called confusion noise.

In astronomical CCD technology, background is usually referred to the overall optical "noise" of the system, that is, the incoming light on the CCD sensor in absence of light sources. This background can originate from electronic noise in the CCD, from not-well-masked lights nearby the telescope, and so on. An exposure on an empty patch of the sky is also called a background, and is the sum of the system background level plus the sky's one.

A background frame is often the first exposure in an astronomical observation with a CCD: the frame will then be subtracted from the actual observation result, leaving in theory only the incoming light from the astronomical object being observed.

Background (album)

Background was the first LP released by Lifetime. It was recorded in 1992 and was originally released on January 1, 1993, as New Age Records #15. The CD version was re-issued on July 1, 1997, with nine live bonus tracks. It is currently out of print although all the songs including the live bonus tracks are available on the Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey collection. The European edition of the album is entitled Ghost and has different artwork and track listing. Ghost was released by Break Even Point Records as a 12" vinyl LP with a limited pressing of 1,000.

Shortly before the album was released, the bass guitarist Justin Janisch was replaced by Linda Kay. Even though Janisch played bass guitar on the record, Kay appears in the group photograph on the back of the album.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "background".

Anne learned a great deal about Jackie and her background, but the stories her biological mother told changed continually.

There was no money in his background, no Adams fortune or elegant Adams homestead like the Boston mansion of John Hancock.

In keeping with his background, Adams was less than dazzled by the Virginia grandees.

He felt, Adams wrote, as though he were receding slowly into the background, yet professed to mind not at all.

The background whine of the LOX and LH2 compressors, which had been barely audible through the plated aerogel hull, ceased, and a few moments later Yoshi announced that the ground crew had cleared the pad.

Trever in on the background as they took an airbus fifty levels clown to the facility.

I do not have a formal academic background in archaeology or anthropology, I daresay that I am quite a recognized expert on the Anasazi and that the two scientists currently working up there depend on me for the answers to certain mysteries.

After asking the question Andi sat a quietly as she could, trying to ease into the background.

The flowing gown she wore, draped around her shoulders and left arm, presented a study in contrast, as the light from various areas around the statue and its pedestal helped illuminate the statue against the dark background.

Obviously Carlton Argus had taken pride in a spectacular background, since there were plants other than orchids which reached nearly to the ceiling.

He knew perfectly well that armies of atheists and anarchists were roaring applause in the background at his Aristotelian victory over all he held most dear.

Against the background of an opened window, Atlee saw an entering figure.

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Mostly of Beaumont, and one with what looked like a burning ship in the background.

The Behavioral Science Investigative Support Unit has found that anyone seeking transfer into this highly special ized program must possess above all other attributes and accomplishments a strong investigative background that includes participating in, supervising, and managing major case assignments.