Slackwater, or the backset caused by the overflow.
Harper's Mag.
Back"set`, v. t. To plow again, in the fall; -- said of prairie land broken up in the spring. [Western U.S.]
Back"set"tler (-st"lr), n. [Back, a. + settler.] One living in the back or outlying districts of a community.
The English backsettlers of Leinster and Munster.
Macaulay.
{ ||Back"sheesh`, ||Back"shish` } (&?;), n. [Pers. bakhshsh, fr. bakhshdan to give.] In Egypt and the Turkish empire, a gratuity; a "tip".
Back"side` (-sd`), n. [Back, a. + side.] The hinder part, posteriors, or rump of a person or animal.
Backside (one word) was formerly used of the rear part or side of any thing or place, but in such senses is now two words.
Back"sight` (-st`), n. [Back, adv. + sight.] (Surv.) The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight, n., 3.
Back"slide" (-sld"; 277), v. i. [imp. Backslid (&?;); p. p. Backslidden (&?;), Backslid; p. pr. & vb. n. Backsliding.] [Back, adv. + slide.] To slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.
Back"slid"er (&?;), n. One who backslides.
Back"slid"ing, a. Slipping back; falling back into sin or error; sinning.
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord.
Jer. iii. 14.
Back"slid"ing, n. The act of one who backslides; abandonment of faith or duty.
Our backslidings are many.
Jer. xiv. 7.
Back"staff` (&?;), n. An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the heavenly bodies, but now superseded by the quadrant and sextant; -- so called because the observer turned his back to the body observed.
Back" stairs` (-stârz`) n.. Stairs in the back part of a house, as distinguished from the front stairs; hence, a private or indirect way.
{ Back"stairs`, Back"stair` }, a. Private; indirect; secret; intriguing; -- as if finding access by the back stairs.
A backstairs influence.
Burke.
Female caprice and backstair influence.
Trevelyan.
Back"stay` (-st`), n. [Back, a. or n. + stay.] 1. (Naut.) A rope or stay extending from the masthead to the side of a ship, slanting a little aft, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast. [Often used in the plural.]