backward

Everyday

1. Backward means toward the back, or in the direction behind you. tree →
2. Backward means in the opposite order, from end to start. tree →
3. Backward (adjective) can mean slower to change or grow than others. tree →

In the lessons

counting down, moving back, or going in reverse order; on a number line, moving left; phrases «backward and forward», «count backward», «bend over backwards» (try very hard), «know it backwards»

Examples

• Count backward from 20 by 2s. tree →
• He took 3 steps backward. tree →
• Read the number backward. tree →
• The frog jumps 5 feet forward and 2 feet backward. tree →
• She can say the alphabet backwards. tree →
• Walk backward slowly and carefully. tree →
• The video played backward. tree →
• Count backward from 10 to 1 for the rocket launch. tree →
• He fell backward into the pool. tree →
• She bent over backwards to help us. tree →
• He moved his head backwards and forwards and flew away. tree →

Note

Moving backward takes away from a position. Trap: «backward» in a list means reverse order, not subtraction. In the UK «backwards» is more common as the adverb; «backward» is the adjective. Safety: look behind before you walk backward.

In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: In Sefer Yetzirah, God looks backward and seals the West, which is one of the six directions. Each direction is sealed with a different permutation of God's Name. In the primary lessons: counting down, moving back, or going in reverse order; on a number line, moving left; phrases «backward and forward», «count backward», «bend over backwards» (try very hard), «know it backwards»

Examples

• Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider falleth backward. (Torah GEN.49.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. (Torah GEN.9.23, JPS 1917) tree →
• Eighth ; He looked backward, and sealed the West (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• The sea saw it, and fled; the Jordan turned backward. (Writings PSA.114.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all they that hate Zion. (Writings PSA.129.5, JPS 1917) tree →
• And He smote His adversaries backward; He put upon them a perpetual reproach. (Writings PSA.78.66, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Moving backward takes away from a position. Trap: «backward» in a list means reverse order, not subtraction. In the UK «backwards» is more common as the adverb; «backward» is the adjective. Safety: look behind before you walk backward.