- towards a place or position that is behind
- I lost my balance and fell backwards.
- He took a step backwards.
- I stumbled backwards and fell.
- in the opposite direction to the usual one
- ‘Ambulance’ is written backwards so you can read it in the mirror.
- In the movie they take a journey backwards through time.
- ‘Evil’ spelled backwards is ‘live’.
- I felt as though time had stopped and clocks had gone backwards.
- towards a worse state
- I felt that going to live with my parents would be a step backwards.
- (North American English) (British English back to front)if you put on a piece of clothing backwards, you make a mistake and put the back where the front should be
Idioms
See backwards in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbackward(s) and forward(s)
- from one place or position to another and back again many times
- She rocked backwards and forwards on her chair.
- The film skips backwards and forwards through time.
bend/lean over backwards (to do something)
- to make a great effort, especially in order to be helpful or fair
- I've bent over backwards to help him.
know somebody/something backwards
- (especially British English, informal) to know somebody/something extremely well
- She must know the play backwards by now.
Check pronunciation:
backwards