Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
background
back′groundˊ
,Noun.
[
Back
, a. + ground
.] 1.
Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the
foreground
, or the ground in front. 2.
(Paint.)
The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures.
☞ The distance in a picture is usually divided into foreground, middle distance, and background.
Fairholt.
3.
Anything behind, serving as a foil;
as, the statue had a
. background
of red hangings4.
A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.
I fancy there was a
background
of grinding and waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly finished . . . performance. Mrs. Alexander.
A husband somewhere in the
background
. Thackeray.
Webster 1828 Edition
Background
BACK'GROUND
,Noun.
2.
A place of obscurity, or shade; a situation little seen, or noticed.Definition 2024
background
background
English
Adjective
background (not generally comparable, comparative further background, superlative furthest background)
- Less important in a scenery.
- background noise.
Antonyms
Noun
background (plural backgrounds)
- One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously.
- The lawyer had a background in computer science.
- A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.
- 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:
- Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close […] above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world — camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.
-
- Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.
- A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).
- There was tons of noise in the background.
- The photographer let us pick a background for the portrait.
- (computing) The image or color, over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).
- (computing) Activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user.
- The antivirus program is running in the background.
Derived terms
Translations
social heritage
|
|
part of picture
|
relevant information
|
|
less important feature
|
computer background
activity not visible to the user
|
|
Verb
background (third-person singular simple present backgrounds, present participle backgrounding, simple past and past participle backgrounded)
- To put in a position that is not prominent.
- 2006, Paul Baker, Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis (page 163)
- One aspect of the story that appears interesting is that the alleged rapist and victim are only referred to by name together in the same sentence once. In all the other sentences, one receives more focus, while the other is backgrounded.
- 2006, Paul Baker, Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis (page 163)