Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The vertebrate spine or spinal column.
- n. Something, such as the keel of a ship, that resembles a backbone.
- n. A main support or major sustaining factor: the backbone of a thesis.
- n. Geology A ridge forming the principal axis of a mountain.
- n. Geology The principal mountain ridge, range, or system of a region.
- n. Chemistry The main chain of atoms in a polymer.
- n. Strength of character; determination: displayed grit and backbone in facing adversity.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The bone of the middle line of the back; the spine; the vertebral column; the vertebræ collectively.
- n. Something resembling a backbone in appearance, position, or office: as, the Apennines are the backbone of Italy.
- n. Figuratively, firmness; stability of purpose; decision of character; resolution; moral principle.
Wiktionary
- n. The series of vertebrae, separated by disks, that encloses and protects the spinal cord, and runs down the middle of the back in vertebrate animals.
- n. any fundamental support, structure, or infrastructure
- n. courage, fortitude, or strength
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal column.
- n. Anything like , or serving the purpose of, a backbone.
- n. Firmness; moral principle; steadfastness.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the part of a network that connects other networks together
- n. the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
- n. the part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved
- n. fortitude and determination
- n. a central cohesive source of support and stability
Etymologies
- From back + bone. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The yellow streak up his backbone is the width of the M25.”
“LOTHIAN: As President Obama signed executive orders that he says levels the playing field between labor unions and employers, he reached out to what he calls the backbone of the country -- middle class families, people White House spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested the Bush administration ignored.”
“He said the problem with recruiting and retaining the general internal medicine specialists, which he called the backbone of rural hospitals, plus support staff, has put pressure on family physicians to deal with sick patients beyond their scope.”
“Schumer said the program could make a real difference in the economy, by helping small businesses, which he called the backbone of the U.S. economy.”
“Granholm begged the Obama administration to help the manufacturing sector, which she called the backbone of the middle class in this country.”
“The peope will have to put the bone back in backbone for state leaders.”
The “I have been requested to put up an open thread” Friday Open Thread. | RedState
“The Mount Nimba range is a 40 km-long narrow ridge running southwest to northeast, part of a Guinean mountain backbone bordering Sierra Leone and Liberia, of Precambrian basement rock, predominantly granites.”
“Since these charlatans can't find a legitimate doctor to tout their medical blasphemy, they have to rely on poor Suzie, who, God bless her, doesn't know a steroid backbone from a botox molecule (which, by the way looks suspiciously like the Thigh Master).”
“The weak backbone is apparent on almost all, but is outright missing on some.”
“Providing and seeking out the women who are serving in backbone roles within our community and bringing the spotlight to them and supporting them must become a shared priority.”
We found women in tech, so why are you still not reporting about them? | FactoryCity
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘backbone’.
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back phrases/hyphens/compounds
backache to backyard
back-ache, back-aching, back-acter, back-acting, back-answer, back-bar, back-basket, back beat, back-bias, back-blast, back-blowing, back-boiler and 342 more...
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SCIE - EU nomenclature
All the scientific words found in the official EU nomenclature. For the screening I used Vocabgrabber of the Visual Thesaurus.
abdominal, absorbent, accelerator, accumulator, acebutolol, acetamide, acetanilide, acetate, acetic acid, acetone, acetous, acetyl and 1171 more...
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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Neoclassicism
Words to describe Neoclassicism
democracy, sober, instructing, egalitarian, rational, thinker, balance, order, organized, idealistic, serious, intellectual and 36 more...
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Two years
Okay, I admit it. I made a list of words my daughter knew when she was two years old.
bat, baba, a, abalone, about, acorn, adrienne, after, again, airplane, alison, all and 694 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Learned words
Words which are highly likely to be found in the work of learned writers.
ailurophile, labyrinthine, lagniappe, colleague, anechoic, reglets, fluctuations, scalar, implicit, constitute, mortification, ambassadors and 629 more...
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Front and Back
backchat, backbone, backpack, backhoe, backfire, backhanded, breakfront, beachfront, drawback, effrontery, frontier, switchback and 196 more...
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the nerve!
nerve, gall, chutzpah, brassy, cheek, shameless, brazen, moxie, insolence, spunk, balls, impertinence and 30 more...
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Technophiles "R" Us
applet, phish, podcast, blog, mouselexia, hot spot, adware, backbone, bot, cyberspace, emoticon, netiquette and 16 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for backbone.
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