BACK'WARDS, adv.[back and ward. See Ward.] With the back in advance; as, to move backward. 2. Toward the back; as, to throw the arms backward; to move backwards and forwards. 3. On the back, or with the back downwards; 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. 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. 9. Towards 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.To be driven or turned backward, is to be defeated, or disappointed. Ps.xl.turn judgment backward, is to pervert justice and laws. Is.lix.
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