backsiden.adj.adv.
/ˈbaksʌɪd/, /ˌbakˈsʌɪd/, U.S. /ˈbækˌsaɪd/ A. n.
1. Now chiefly North American.
a. The reverse or wrong side or face of something, as a document, piece of cloth, mirror, etc.; the underside of a leaf, bowl, etc. Cf. back n.1 3, 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > [noun] > part or side of
backsidec1392
cut1563
purl1626
ambitient1657
unguicle1657
verge1704
sinus1753
pagina1832
blade1835
crenel1835
biforine1842
underleaf1873
tentacle1875
bullation1882
leaf skin1974
society > communication > book > leaves or pages of book > [noun] > leaf > back of leaf
backsidec1392
reverse1824
verso1839
c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 20 Shortly thi lymbe is deuided in maner of the lymbe in the bakside of an astrelabie.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §15. 8 The wombe-side of thyne Astrelabie is also deuyded wit[h] a longe croys in 4 quarters..as is the bak-side.
1444 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1837) VI. 317 (MED) Put..in writing on the bakside of the saide billes what, by whome, and howe many thinges been asked þerinne.
c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich Mittelengl. Medizinbuch (1896) 141 Make an oynement þer of, and anoynte þe sore þer wyþ, & ley aweybrode lef aboue þe bak syde toward þe sore.
1547 Act 1 Edward VI c. 5 §5 in Statutes of Realm (1963) IV. i. 10 Indorsed and written on the backe syde of the saide lycence.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 86v Upon the bak syde they [sc. Hartstongue leaves] haue as it wer smal wormes hangyng on.
1621 R. Crakanthorpe Def. Constantine i. xv. 368 The back-side of the Autographum of the donation..writ..with his owne hands.
1652 Declar. & Instr. Revenue & Stores Ireland 8 According to the Computation of Pay on the back side of this Warrant.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iii. ii. iii. 335 With this the Tin-Foile is made to stick close to the backsides of Looking-Glasses.
1709 J. Strype Ann. Reformation viii. 116 On the backside of this paper are writ these words.
1720 London Gaz. No. 5910/5 Lost..a Pocket-Book..writ on the backside John Bennett.
1789 G. Campbell in tr. Four Gospels I. ii. i. 35 A book written within and on the back-side.
1806 G. Gregory Dict. Arts & Sci. I. 563/1 With a sponge dipt in water wet the back side of the print, and turn the printed side down.
1831 Encycl. Americana V. 166/1 Foil is also used to signify the sheet of amalgam laid on the back side of a mirror, which enables it to reflect a complete image.
1864 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1862: Arts & Manuf. I. 583 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (37th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 52) X Constructing a napping roller for napping the back side of the cloth or blankets, conjointly with napping the face side.
1898 Jrnl. Educ. (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 16 June 373/1 Apply this wad to the back side of the leaf until the veins are carefully touched with ink.
1912 Amer. Machinist 26 Dec. 1078 (caption) Backside of blueprints.
1964 Life 9 Oct. 128/1 They worked from the backside of the tapestry and, as a result, it becomes a mirror image of the original sketch.
1993 Homemaker's Mag. (Toronto) Mar. (insert) Press the area between the thumb and index finger on the back side of the hand for one minute.
2010 Early Homes Spring 53/1 Collectors typically display the backside of the bowl to capture the visual impact of ancient wood peeking through wisps of aged paint.
b. The side of an object furthest away from the observer; the hindmost or further side; (also) a position at the back or to the rear of something. Cf. back n.1 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > position at the back > [noun] > back part or rear
hinder enda1382
back-half1408
backside1417
arse1510
rear1609
postern1611
back-enda1617
arreara1627
back1626
averse1655
posteriorsa1657
ass1700
tail-end1747
rear end1785
west side1829
arse-end1837
hindside1862
ass-end1934
1417 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 12 (MED) The bak syde of hys post that standys in hys hall.
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. xxiii. sig. Eiiijv That on the baksyde of the bataylle they be not enuahysshed.
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xxviii. sig. Hiv The backe side of your instrument.
a1629 W. Hinde Faithfull Remonstr. (1641) xlvi. 147 Came out at the backside of his leg.
1637 W. Saltonstall Country Mouse, & City Mouse (ed. 2) 7 You would not live here with such patience, On the backside of a dark wood alone.
a1727 I. Newton Short. Chron. 1st Memory in Chronol. Anc. Kingdoms Amended (1728) 10 Scythians from the backside of the Euxine Sea.
1763 R. Orme Hist. Mil. Trans. Brit. Nation I. iv. 326 Some of them attempting to get to a slight counterwall which lines the backside of the battery, fell into a deep pit.
1847 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 54 201 It is within this great curve of the principal trap range, and on its back side, that all the deposits of trap tuff, with which I am acquainted, occur.
1887 M. Holley Samantha at Saratoga xx. 564 She and Abram sot a few seats in front of us, and I thought I see a certain look to the backside of her head that meant poetry.
1914 Textile World Rec. June 63/2 Their giving figures of cost in the mills of their foreign competitors is on a par with drawing a map of the backside of the moon.
1994 Our Schools/Our Selves Nov. 62 Near the back side of the gallery, for example, the Citizen's Committee of 1000 anti-strike volunteers were presented in three tableaus.
2000 S. T. Murray tr. H. Mankell Fifth Woman 405 He ran to the car and drove as fast as he could to the tractor path that led to the back side of the hill.
c. figurative. With the. The disadvantageous, undesirable, or unattractive side or aspect of something. Apparently rare between the 18th and late 20th centuries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surface > [noun] > rear surface
wrong side1511
back1626
backside1645
counterfront1730
reverse1775
1645 J. Milton Colasterion 26 To endorse him on the backside of posterity, not a golden, but a brazen Asse.
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love iv. i. 74 Just the very backside of Truth.
1757 R. Nugent Oppressed Captive 139 An Old Baily solicitor, pretty well known for understanding the backside of the law.
1994 P. T. Deuterman Edge of Honor xxxix. 436 They can't be on the back side of a buzz, or hungover, or fixating on their next dose of whatever shit they're into.
2007 Amer. Cowboy Nov. 18/2 Being on the backside of 50, [etc.].
2. † b. A privy. Obsolete.
a. Premises belonging to a house, farmstead, etc., situated behind the main building, including gardens, fields, outbuildings, etc.; a backyard. Chiefly regional in later use.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > courtyard > [noun] > (back or front) yard
yardOE
backside1450
stead1546
outyard1600
lot1657
backyard1659
outlet1667
area1712
back lot1714
backlet1724
door-yardc1764
front yard1767
rear yard1800
tenement yard1874
sitooterie1994
1450–2 in Cal. Proc. Chancery Queen Elizabeth (1827) I. p. xlvii (MED) The moder of youre seid besecher..went prevyly oute in the bakke syde with lytell or fewe clothes.
1484 Churchwardens' Acct. in Archaeologia Cantiana (1886) 16 289 John Luton payeth..for his gardeyne in the backesyde of his howse.
1541–2 Act 33 Henry VIII c. 36 §1 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 875 Houses, with the curtilage backside and garden adjoyninge.
1575 in J. Robertson & C. Innes Munimenta Univ. Glasguensis (1854) I. 92 The tenement..in Jonet Mershellis bakesyde.
1630 H. Lord Display Two Forraigne Sects 79 Administring food to a young Kid in his Fathers backeside.
1673 J. Ray S. & E. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 58 A Barken or (as they use it in Sussex) Barton: a yard of a house, a backside.
1744 G. Horseman Precedents in Conveyancing II. 33 To have and to hold the said Messuage or Tenement, Coach-house, Stable, Garden, Yard, Backside and Premisses.
1805 R. Anderson Ballads in Cumberland Dial. 82 The witch weyfe begg'd in our backseyde.
1822 J. Galt Provost xl. 296 The wall..would inclose a portion of the backside of my new steading.
1875 J. H. Nodal & G. Milner Gloss. Lancs. Dial.: Pt. I 21 He used t' sit smookin' of a neet at th' backside, among his bits o' posies.
1927 G. Rae Where Falcons Fly vi The backside o' the dwellin' o' Cistercian monks, a howf o' the Archbishop's, is here-abouts.
1974 W. Leeds Herefordshire Speech 47 Back-side, back yard, back garden.
1994 C. Muller Yakada Yaka 136 Beryl is in the backside. Sit, will you.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun]
gongOE
privy?c1225
room-housec1275
chamber foreignc1300
wardrobea1325
privy chamberc1325
foreignc1390
siegec1400
stool1410
jakes1432
house of easementa1438
kocayc1440
siege-hole1440
siege-house1440
privy house1463
withdraught1493
draught1530
shield1535
bench-hole1542
common house1542
stool1542
jakes house1547
boggard1552
house of office?1560
purging place1577
little house1579
issue1588
Ajax1596
draught-house1597
private1600
necessary house1612
vault1617
longhouse1622
latrine1623
necessary1633
commonsa1641
gingerbread officea1643
boghouse1644
cloaca1645
passage-house1646
retreat1653
shithouse1659
closet of ease1662
garderobe1680
backside1704
office1727
bog?1731
house of ease1734
cuz-john1735
easing-chair1771
backhouse1800
outhouse1819
netty1825
petty1848
seat of ease1850
closet1869
bathroom1883
crapper1927
lat1927
shouse1941
biffy1942
shitholec1947
toot1965
shitter1967
woodshed1974
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub xi. 198 An Authentick Phrase for demanding the Way to the Backside.
1705 P. Motteux et al. tr. M. de Cervantes Hist. Don Quixote (ed. 2) II. xxii. 262 Those that can eat their Meat, drink their Drink, speak when they're spoken to, and go to the Back-side when they have occasion for't, are not Bewitch'd nor Inchanted.
3. The buttocks, the bottom.Now often as a euphemistic or polite alternative to arse, ass, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > back > buttock(s) > [noun]
flitcha700
arse-endseOE
culec1220
buttockc1300
tail1303
toutec1305
nagea1325
fundamentc1325
tail-end1377
brawna1382
buma1387
bewschers?a1400
crouponc1400
rumplec1430
lendc1440
nachec1440
luddocka1475
rearwarda1475
croupc1475
rumpc1475
dock1508
hurdies1535
bunc1538
sitting place1545
bottom?c1550
prat1567
nates1581
backside1593
crupper1594
posteriorums1596
catastrophe1600
podex1601
posterior1605
seat1607
poop1611
stern1631
cheek1639
breeka1642
doup1653
bumkin1658
bumfiddle1661
assa1672
butt1675
quarter1678
foundation1681
toby1681
bung1691
rear1716
fud1722
moon1756
derrière1774
rass1790
stern-post1810
sit-down1812
hinderland1817
hinderling1817
nancy1819
ultimatum1823
behinda1830
duff?1837
botty1842
rear end1851
latter end1852
hinder?1857
sit1862
sit-me-down1866
stern-works1879
tuchus1886
jacksy-pardy1891
sit-upon1910
can1913
truck-end1913
sitzfleisch1916
B.T.M.1919
fanny1919
bot1922
heinie1922
beam1929
yas yas1929
keister1931
batty1935
bim1935
arse-end1937
twat1937
okole1938
bahookie1939
bohunkus1941
quoit1941
patoot1942
rusty-dusty1942
dinger1943
jacksie1943
zatch1950
ding1957
booty1959
patootie1959
buns1960
wazoo1961
tush1962
1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether sig. Ciiiv Gentylwoman. I pray you let me in at the backesyde. Mery report. Ye shall I so, and your foresyde so wyde.]
1593 B. Rich Greenes Newes sig. E4v But with a little blast of her back side, she wold haue made the proudest Protestant that stoode next her to stop his nose.
1607 S. Rowlands Diogines Lanthorne sig. E2 Yet we thou seest goe bare-arse all, For each man to deride: I tell thee brother Asse I blush, To see mine owne, backe-side.
1651 H. More Second Lash of Alazonomastix To Rdr. As if his senses lay all in his backside, and had left his brains destitute.
1713 J. Addison in Guardian 9 Sept. 2/2 A poor Ant..with her Head downwards, and her Backside upwards.
1792 W. Borrow in M. F. G-B. Giner & M. Montgomery Knaresborough Workhouse Daybk. (2003) 164 Jane Thorp is as Sulkey as a pot mule but I will make her backside smart.
1800 W. Somerville Jrnl. 8 Apr. in Narr. Journeys Eastern Cape Frontier (1979) i. 30 Large and prominent backsides are reckoned a great beauty—and fortunately for their admirers it is a charm very universally possessed.
1827 Gentleman's Mag. 97 ii. 522 He shall fall on his back-side.
1894 Documents Assembly State of N.Y. XVI. 2132 The superintendent used a long, heavy strap on my backside, so that I shrieked with the pain.
1942 H. L. Mencken Diary 14 Mar. (1989) 203 She turned out to be a vast, billowy biddy with bosoms like toy balloons and a backside like a taxicab.
1960 J. Cheever Jrnls. (1991) 139 His whatsit as well as his backside is on display.
2011 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 16 Dec. 31 A concave stomach and an irreproachably firm backside.
B. adj.
1. Designating something situated behind, at the rear, or away from the front; of or relating to the rear or reverse side of something.
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1576 Edinb. Dean of Guild Accts. 52 in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Bak-sid(e Four lang stanis to be ane gutter to the bak seid wall of Mr James Lowsones house.
1637 Deloney's Gentle Craft (new ed.) xvi. sig. I3v The backeside Tables were set.
1656 J. Tradescant Musæum Tradescantianum 40 Backside work acht upon crystall.
1715 Ess. Thirty Nine Articles (Church of England) iv. 177 On the upper part of the said backside Page these Words..are written by the same Hand.
1858 N. Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. (1872) I. 36 The worst back-side lanes.
1889 W. Dawes Elijer Goff's Compl. Wks. 184 He'd gone as fur bakkerds as he kud, and it mite be interestin tu the spektaters if he wud now go the backside edge forruds.
1928 H. Garland Back-trailers from Middle Border xxi. 250 A tiny little backside garden, presided over by a laughing Italian cherub.
2005 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 30 Apr. f3 It [sc. a house] also has gorgeous backside views across the Bearspaw reservoir.
2. Surfing. Of an action: performed with the surfer's back to the wave while traversing along its face. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1964 H. Atkinson in Quadrant June 15/2 When you're driving hard and fast down the wall, with the soup curling behind yer, or doing a backside bottom turn on a big one about to tube, it's just this feeling.
1994 Water Ski May 69/2 If you're a goofy foot (right-foot-forward).., a backside move would be from the left wake to the right.
1997 J. MacLaren Learn to Surf 96 Having just completed your backside turn, you're now surfing ‘backside’.
2013 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. 23 July (Sports section) 9/1 Newport Beach surfer Andrew Doheny fell in his first-round heat despite a last-ditch effort from fourth place where he blew the fins on a backside reverse.
3. In skateboarding: designating a trick or jump begun by turning so that one's back faces the ramp or direction of travel. In snowboarding: designating a trick or jump begun by turning so one's back faces down the slope.
ΚΠ
1976 SkateBoarder Oct. 57/1 He was doing backside off-the-lips on the coping, and he's calling the pool ‘dead’.
1989 L. D. Brimner Snowboarding vii. 50 If mid-air turns excite you, the ‘backside air’ adds a 180-degree rotation at the peak of the aerial. In this stunt, you shoot up one side of the halfpipe, turn, and descend, prow-first back into the pipe.
1998 Australian (Nexis) 20 Feb. (Features section) 10 The screen features a silhouette of Hoakonsen's famous backside turn and a pattern has been woven into the velcro strap to resemble snowboard tracks in the snow.
2013 B. Terrell Flipside 110 He hit the guardrail perfectly, locking his rear truck in a backside grind.
C. adv.
In surfing: with the surfer's back to the wave. Also: (in snowboarding, skateboarding, etc.) with one's back facing the direction of travel.
ΚΠ
1969 Surfer Nov. 41/1 Two days before at Trestles, he'd worked the same things with even more success, going backside one wave and frontside the next.
1990 K. C. Althen Compl. Bk. Snowboarding v. 93 It is also possible to do an Alley Oop-Mute..by hitting the frontside wall, grabbing Mute, turning backside, landing, and riding it out.
1997 J. MacLaren Learn to Surf 95 In order to surf backside, you must overcome your body's reflexive resistance.
2002 J. Weyland Answer is Never iv. 50 He was pictured in his more characteristic gear..kickturning backside on coping, the height of radicalism.
2009 H. Hasan Skateboarding Today & Tomorrow 26 A backside 540 is done by riding up the transition, grabbing the board on the heelside with the front hand, turning backside (towards the skater's toes), and landing forward.
Phrases
colloquial. In idioms relating to sense A. 3 (sometimes used as euphemistic or polite substitutes for equivalent phrases using arse, ass, etc.). P1. my backside.
a. all my backside: = stuff and nonsense at stuff n.1 8b. Cf. all my eye at eye n.1 Phrases 4n(a). rare.In quot. 2013 used punningly with reference to sense A. 3.
ΚΠ
1788 C. Morris Compl. Coll. Songs (ed. 9) 60 Troth, in Ireland, we would Be all apt to doubt him, A man with virginity Is all my backside.
1914 O. Onions Mushroom Town ii. ii. 139 ‘I now be work-king here with my shirt wet-t on my back if I went to a prop-per school.’ ‘Oh, be dinged to that tale!’ returned the Yorkshireman bluntly... ‘T' schools is all my backside!’
2013 Doncaster Free Press (Nexis) 28 Feb. I made the discovery that buns is another word for your gluteal muscles. Its all my backside.
b. Chiefly British and Irish English. my backside: an expression of denial, disbelief, or contempt, now frequently used following a statement or suggestion which is being contradicted.For similar idioms see: my arse! at arse n. and int. Phrases 4a, my eye at eye n.1 Phrases 4n(b), my foot! at foot n. and int. Phrases 9b.
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1917 S. J. G. Ervine Changing Winds viii. 122 ‘My backside to that for an answer!’ Mr Quinn snapped.
1961 New Statesman 8 Dec. 882/1 Does he go off and shoot them up? Does he my backside. Sends for reserves.
1993 Sun 31 May 32/2 Rookie my backside! You drove a brilliant race.
2003 S. Mackay Heligoland (2004) vi. 84 ‘Gender studies my backside,’ snorts stocky Rita.
P2. to sit on one's backside: to be idle or passive, esp. when action is required; to withhold effort or shirk responsibility.
ΚΠ
1885 H. Belden Let. 28 Dec. in G. G. Belden, Plaintiff-Appellant against W. Belden et al., Defendants-Respondents: Case & Exceptions (Supreme Court State N.Y.: Appellate Div., 1st Dept.) 637 I don't hear anything from Charlie at all and suspect that he is sitting on his backside waiting for me to build him up, but I shan't do it.
1891 ‘Nero’ Valmond the Crank i. 12 The cursed stockholders sitting on their backsides, and running no risk, and getting the results of my labour.
1932 Kerrville (Texas) Mountain Sun 21 July 10/2 This country is not going to be saved by snake-dancing or medicine-making in Washington, but by millions of Americans ceasing to sit on their backsides and scrutinize their navels.
1958 H. E. Bates Darling Buds of May ix. 157 You mean sit on your backside for forty years and then collect four pounds a week that's worth only two.
1982 M. Leigh Goose-pimples ii, in Abigail's Party & Goose-pimples (1983) 136 Jackie : What d'you do? Irving : Sits on her backside all day.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 2 Nov. (Business section) 4/5 If you just sit on your backside and wait for things to get better, they're not going to.
P3. to get off one's backside: to stir oneself to action, esp. after a period of apathy or inertia; to initiate a necessary course of action; to get (back) to work. Cf. to get off —— 1b at get v. Phrasal verbs 2.
ΚΠ
1943 J. Bromley & P. Cooper Clear Tracks! xiii. 163 You came all the way from Binghamton to Utica without putting a drop of oil on your engine. Too lazy to get off your backside.
1975 D. Marsden Workless viii. 178 These pictures are really things that I want to do..if I could get off me backside to go and sell 'em.
1990 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 27 May 42/2 Now he has a new message for Australians: get off your backsides and fix the economy.
2005 Yorks. Post (Nexis) 13 June He says today's unemployed don't want to do a job for £200 a week—they'll only get off their backsides for £500.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.adv.c1392