Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Dictionary: BACK-SLI'DER – BADGE'LESS
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BACK-SLI'DER, n.
- An apostate; one who falls from the faith and practice of religion. – Prov. xiv.
- One who neglects his vows of obedience and falls into sin.
BACK-SLI'DING, n.
The act of apostatizing from faith or practice; a falling insensibly from religion into sin or idolatry. – Jer. v. 6.
The state of backsliding.
BACK'STAFF, n. [back and staff, so called from its being used with the observer's back toward the sun.]
A quadrant; an instrument for taking the sun's altitude at sea; called also, from its inventor, Davis's quadrant. – Encyc.
BACK'STAIRS, n. [back and stairs.]
Stairs in the back part of a house; private stairs; and figuratively, a private or indirect way.
BACK'STAYS, n. [back and stay.]
Long ropes or stays extending from the top-mast heads to both sides of a ship, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast, when strained by a weight of sail, and prevent it from giving way and falling overboard. – Mar. Dict.
BACK'STONE, n.
The heated stone on which oat-cake is baked. – North of England.
BACK'SWORD, n. [back and sword.]
A sword with one sharp edge. In England, a stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements. – Arbuthnot.
BACK'WARD, a.
- Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating. For wiser brutes are backward to be slaves. – Pope.
- Slow; sluggish; dilatory. The mind is backward to undergo the fatigue of weighing every argument. – Watts.
- Dull; not quick of apprehension; behind in progress; as, a backward learner.
- Late; behind in time; coming after something else, or after the usual time; as, backward fruits; the season is backward.
BACK'WARD, adv. [back and ward. See Ward.]
- With the back in advance; as, to move backward.
- Toward the back; as, to throw the arms backward; to move backward, and forward.
- On the back, or with the back downward; as, to fall backward.
- Toward past times or events; as, to look backward on the history of man.
- By way of reflection; reflexively. – Davies.
- From a better to a worse state; as, public affairs go backward.
- In time past; as, let us look some ages backward.
- Perversely; from a wrong end. I never yet saw man but she would spell him backward. – Shak.
- Toward the beginning; in an order contrary to the natural order; as, to read backward.
- In a scriptural sense, to go or turn backward, is to rebel, apostatize, or relapse into sin or idolatry. – Is. i.
- Contrarily; in a contrary manner. – Swift. To be driven or turned backward, is to be defeated, or disappointed. – Ps. xl. To turn judgment backward, is to pervert justice and laws. – Is. lix.
BACK'WARD, n.
The things or state behind or past. In the dark backward or abysm of time. – Shak. [Not proper, nor in use.]
BACK'WARD-LY, adv.
Unwillingly; reluctantly; aversely; perversely.
BACK'WARD-NESS, n.
- Unwillingness; reluctance; dilatoriness, or dullness in action.
- A state of being behind in progress; slowness; tardiness; as, the backwardness of the spring.
BACK-WOODS'MAN, n.
In the United States, an inhabitant of the forest on the western frontier.
BACK'WORM, n. [back and worm.]
A small worm, in a thin skin, in the reins of a hawk. [See Filanders.] – Encyc.
BA'CON, n. [ba'kn; W. baccum; Ir. bogun. In old charters, boca. Cowel. In Ger. bache, is a wild sow.]
Hog's flesh salted or pickled and dried, usually in smoke. To save one's bacon, is to preserve one's self from harm.
BA-CO'NI-AN, a.
Pertaining to Lord Bacon, or to his system of philosophy.
BAC'ULE, n. [Fr. bascule.]
In fortification, a kind of portcullis or gate, made like a pitfall, with a counterpoise, and supported by two great stakes. – Encyc.
BAC'U-LITE, n. [L. baculus.]
A genus of fossil shells, of a straight form, a little conical, in their cellular structure resembling the ammonites. – Edin. Encyc.
BAC-U-LOM'E-TRY, n. [L. baculus, a staff, and Gr. μετρον, measure.]
The act of measuring distance or altitude by a staff or staffs. – Bailey. Johnson.
the past tense of bid. See Bid.
BAD, a. [Pers. بَدْ bad, evil, depraved; allied perhaps to Ar. بَادَ bada. Heb. Ch. Syr. and Sam. אבד abad, to perish or destroy.]
- Ill; evil; opposed to good; a word of general use, denoting physical defects and moral faults, in men and things; as, a bad man, a bad heart, a bad design, bad air, bad water, bad books.
- Vicious; corrupt; depraved, in a moral sense; as, a bad life; a bad action.
- Unwholesome; as, bad provisions.
- Unfortunate; unprosperous; as, a bad state of affairs.
- Unskillful; as, a bad player.
- Small; poor; as, a bad crop.
- Infirm; as, a bad state of health.
- Feeble, corrupt, or oppressive; as, a bad government.
- Hurtful; pernicious; as, fine print is bad for the eyes.
- Unfavorable; as, a bad season.
- Poor; steril; as, a bad soil.
- Rough or muddy; as, a bad road. In short, bad expresses whatever is injurious, hurtful, inconvenient, unlawful or immoral; whatever is offensive, painful or unfavorable; or what is defective.
BADGE, n. [I know not the affinities of this word, not having found it in any other language. Probably it belongs to class Bg.]
- A mark, sign, token, or thing, by which a person is distinguished, in a particular place or employment, and designating his relation to a person or to a particular occupation; as, the badge of authority.
- The mark or token of any thing; as, the badge of bitterness. – Shak.
- An ornament on ships, near the stern, decorated with figures.
BADGE, v.t.
To mark, or distinguish with a badge. – Shak.
BADGE'LESS, a.
Having no badge. – Bp. Hall.