Word.ws English Dictionary

backed up

backed up is the simple past and past participle of back up.

Meaning of back up

Verb

back up (third-person singular simple present backs up, present participle backing up, simple past and past participle backed up)

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so.
    • That beeping sound indicates that the truck is backing up.
  2. (idiomatic, transitive) To move a vehicle backwards.
    • Back up the car a little, you're blocking the driveway.
    Synonyms:
    reverse
  3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To undo one's actions.
    • I couldn't see how to finish the project, so I backed up and tried it another way.
    Synonyms:
    back out
  4. (idiomatic, intransitive) To reconsider one's thoughts.
    • This isn't working. Let's back up and think about it.
  5. (idiomatic, transitive) To copy (data) so that it can be restored if the main copy is lost.
    • Back up your documents folder before applying the update.
  6. (idiomatic, transitive) To provide support or the promise of support to.
    • You should be careful. This guy is backed up by the local gang.
    Synonyms:
    back, support

See all 12 meanings of back up

Questions about backed up

What is backed up the simple past and past participle of?
Backed up is the simple past and past participle of back up.

Words near backed up in the dictionary

  1. backed onto
  2. backed out
  3. backed the field
  4. backed the right horse
  5. backed the wrong horse
  6. backed up
  7. backed up the truck
  8. backed water
  9. backend
  10. backendish
  11. backends

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: backed up (page history and authors); back up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “backed up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backed_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.