backgrounds

Noun

background (countable and uncountable, plural backgrounds)

1. One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in the past.
   • The lawyer had a background in computer science.
2. A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.
   • 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...2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2016, pages 206–207
3. An extra who appears in the background, with no speaking role.
4. Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.

   Synonyms:

   canvas

5. A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).
   • There was tons of noise in the background.
6. The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).

See all 12 meanings of background