backlash
/ˈbækˌlæʃ/
backlash noun: a suddenly reversed or backward motion, such as of a rope or elastic band when it snaps under tension.
Noun
backlash (countable and uncountable, plural backlashes)
- A suddenly reversed or backward motion, such as of a rope or elastic band when it snaps under tension.
- A negative reaction, objection or outcry, especially of a violent or abrupt nature.
- The public backlash to the proposal was quick and insistent.
- The looseness through which one part of connected machinery, such as a wheel, gear, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, or a measurement of the distance moved thereby; either intentional (as allowance) or unintentional (from error or wear).
- ... the word "backlash" is used in the extended sense in which it is understood in Lancashire and Yorkshire , including not only backlash proper , but also break of contact between the working faces of the teeth of the two wheels when the driven wheel overruns the driver without actual backlash ....1896 Mr. Michael Longridge, of Manchester: Breakdowns of Stationary Steam-Engines. Proceedings. Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Page 541
- The jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.
- In ...breakages from high speed and irregular pitch, ten out of the eleven wheels had spur segments moulded from patterns, instead of by machinery; and in three of the ten the teeth were cast upon the felks, and were twisted and drawn, as they generally are when cast in this way, by the contraction...1896 Mr. Michael Longridge, of Manchester: Breakdowns of Stationary Steam-Engines. Proceedings. Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Page 54
Verb
backlash (third-person singular simple present backlashes, present participle backlashing, simple past and past participle backlashed)
- To perform a backlash, to lash back in reaction to some cause.
- Thrutch factory was a queer old concern. It had been built piecemeal-here a bit and there a bit. There were a new end and an old end, the spinning-rooms in the one being light and lofty, in the other low. and gloomy. Looms were shoved in everywhere. There were a "long shop" with three hundred, a...1894 William Westall. Tinkler. Ludgate Illustrated Magazine. Vol VIII
- Just as it began to get dusk and the shadows from the trees deepening the twilight that had already spread over the lake, giving a peculiarly lonesome effect that water always has upon the approach of night, Uncle succeeded in getting out the longest cast he had yet made — about seventy-five feet....1895 W. C. Kepler. Uncle and the Bass The American Angler - Volume 25 - Page 226
backlash meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
backlash in Tamil
- பின்னடிப்பு
backlash in Bengali
- তীব্র প্রতিক্রিয়া
backlash in Malayalam
- adverse reaction, adverse response, counterblast
- പ്രത്യാഘാതം, തിരിച്ചടി, എതിര്, പ്രതികൂലഭാവം, പ്രതികൂലമായ പ്രതികരണം, ദോഷകരമായ അനന്തരഫലം
backlash in Kannada
- ಹಿನ್ಸರಿತ, ಹಿಂದೇಟು
More languagesFewer languages
- backlash in Punjabi
- ਬੈਕਲੈਸ਼, ਬੈਕਲੈਸ਼ ਕਰਨਾ
- backlash in Arabic
- رَدّ فِعْل عَنِيف radd fiʕl ʕanīf
- backlash in Vietnamese
- chống đối
Examples of backlash in a sentence
- In every instance the speed was high, and in several cases there was more or less backlash or over-running.1896 Mr. Michael Longridge, of Manchester: Breakdowns of Stationary Steam-Engines. Proceedings. Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Page 54
- Unfortunately, or perhaps I should say fortunately, his reel over-ran and backlashed for him.1895 W. C. Kepler. Uncle and the Bass The American Angler - Volume 25 - Page 226
- Screw reverse gear backlashed due to latch spring too weak to hold it in place ; 1 injured1922 Interstate Commerce Commission. Fifth Annual Report. Chief Inspector of Locomotive Boilers. Annual Report of the Chief Inspector....
- I have the faculty of getting more backlashed in less casts with more kinds of guaranteed anti-backlash reels than any man who reads this sad confession.1936 Gifford Pinchot. Two's Company. The Rotarian April 1936
Synonyms of backlash
Forms of backlash
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | backlashes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | backlashes |
| present participle | backlashing |
| past participle | backlashed |
| past | backlashed |
Origin of backlash
From back- + lash.
Words formed from backlash
Questions about backlash
- What does backlash mean?
- Backlash means a suddenly reversed or backward motion, such as of a rope or elastic band when it snaps under tension.
- What is backlash in Tamil?
- Backlash in Tamil is பின்னடிப்பு. See Backlash meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use backlash in a sentence?
- In every instance the speed was high, and in several cases there was more or less backlash or over-running.
- What part of speech is backlash?
- Backlash can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce backlash?
- Backlash is pronounced /ˈbækˌlæʃ/.
- What is the plural of backlash?
- The plural of backlash is backlashes.
Words near backlash in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backlash (page history and authors); backlash (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); backlash (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); backlash (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); backlash (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); backlash (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-backlash.ogg.
Cite this entry: “backlash.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backlash. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.