Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BACK-SLI'DER, n.

1. An apostate; one who falls from the faith and practice of religion. – Prov. xiv.
2. 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.

BACK-SLID'ING-NESS, n.

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.

1. Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating. For wiser brutes are backward to be slaves. – Pope.
2. Slow; sluggish; dilatory. The mind is backward to undergo the fatigue of weighing every argument. – Watts.
3. Dull; not quick of apprehension; behind in progress; as, a backward learner.
4. 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.]

1. With the back in advance; as, to move backward.
2. Toward the back; as, to throw the arms backward; to move backward, and forward.
3. On the back, or with the back downward; as, to fall backward.
4. Toward past times or events; as, to look backward on the history of man.
5. By way of reflection; reflexively. – Davies.
6. From a better to a worse state; as, public affairs go backward.
7. In time past; as, let us look some ages backward.
8. Perversely; from a wrong end. I never yet saw man but she would spell him backward. – Shak.
9. Toward the beginning; in an order contrary to the natural order; as, to read backward.
10. In a scriptural sense, to go or turn backward, is to rebel, apostatize, or relapse into sin or idolatry. – Is. i.
11. 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.

1. Unwillingness; reluctance; dilatoriness, or dullness in action.
2. 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.

BAD, or BADE,

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.]

1. 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.
2. Vicious; corrupt; depraved, in a moral sense; as, a bad life; a bad action.
3. Unwholesome; as, bad provisions.
4. Unfortunate; unprosperous; as, a bad state of affairs.
5. Unskillful; as, a bad player.
6. Small; poor; as, a bad crop.
7. Infirm; as, a bad state of health.
8. Feeble, corrupt, or oppressive; as, a bad government.
9. Hurtful; pernicious; as, fine print is bad for the eyes.
10. Unfavorable; as, a bad season.
11. Poor; steril; as, a bad soil.
12. 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.]

1. 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.
2. The mark or token of any thing; as, the badge of bitterness. – Shak.
3. 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.