| / English Dictionary |
BACKBONE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The part of a network that connects other networks together
Example:
the backbone is the part of a communication network that carries the heaviest traffic
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):
connecter; connection; connective; connector; connexion (an instrumentality that connects)
Holonyms ("backbone" is a part of...):
mesh; meshing; meshwork; net; network (an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved
Example:
the title and author were printed on the spine of the book
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):
part; portion (something less than the whole of a human artifact)
Holonyms ("backbone" is a part of...):
book; volume (physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound together)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Fortitude and determination
Example:
he didn't have the guts to try it
Synonyms:
backbone; grit; gumption; guts; moxie; sand
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):
fortitude (strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
Example:
the fall broke his back
Synonyms:
back; backbone; rachis; spinal column; spine; vertebral column
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):
skeletal structure (any structure created by the skeleton of an organism)
Meronyms (parts of "backbone"):
canalis vertebralis; spinal canal; vertebral canal (the canal in successive vertebrae through which the spinal cord passes)
coccyx; tail bone (the end of the vertebral column in humans and tailless apes)
vertebra (one of the bony segments of the spinal column)
intervertebral disc; intervertebral disk (a fibrocartilaginous disc serving as a cushion between all of the vertebrae of the spinal column (except between the first two))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "backbone"):
notochord (a flexible rodlike structure that forms the supporting axis of the body in the lowest chordates and lowest vertebrates and in embryos of higher vertebrates)
chine (backbone of an animal)
Holonyms ("backbone" is a part of...):
axial skeleton (the part of the skeleton that includes the skull and spinal column and sternum and ribs)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A central cohesive source of support and stability
Example:
he is the linchpin of this firm
Synonyms:
anchor; backbone; keystone; linchpin; lynchpin; mainstay
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):
support (something providing immaterial assistance to a person or cause or interest)
Context examples:
A saturated long-chain fatty acid with a 14-carbon backbone.
(Myristic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)
A polyunsaturated long-chain fatty acid with an 18-carbon backbone and exactly 2 double bonds.
(Octadecadienoic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)
One of the starting materials for plasmalogen biosynthesis is dihydroxyacetone phosphate from glycolysis, which is used to form the glycerol backbone of the plasmalogen.
(Plasmalogen Synthesis Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
'So is the backbone of his horse,' quoth the prince.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A glycerophospholipid with an enol ether double bond in the sn-1 position of its glycerol backbone.
(Plasmalogen, NCI Thesaurus/CRCH)
A saturated fatty acid with a 15-carbon backbone.
(Pentadecylic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)
A polyunsaturated long-chain fatty acid with an 18-carbon backbone and exactly three double bonds.
(Octadecatrienoic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)
A saturated medium-chain fatty acid with an 8-carbon backbone.
(Octanoic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)
A saturated long-chain fatty acid with a 16-carbon backbone.
(Palmitic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)
The bony, basin-shaped structure formed by the hipbones and the base of the backbone supporting the lower limbs in humans.
(Pelvis, NCI Thesaurus)
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