Word.ws English Dictionary

backscratching

backscratching is the present participle and gerund of backscratch.

Meaning of backscratch

Verb

backscratch (third-person singular simple present backscratches, present participle backscratching, simple past and past participle backscratched)

  1. To scratch one's or another's back.
    • That thought appeared to discompose her greatly, though Jasper made light of it by rapidly back-scratching with his hind legs and giving a short stern bark, just to assure her that strangers would be rushed off the property on sight.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 127
  2. (slang) To engage in a reciprocal beneficial action.
    • It was backscratched into existence, cost nearly a billion pounds, and now they are wondering why they let it happen.2003, Ralph Steadman, Doodaaa: The Balletic Art of Gavin Twinge, page 105

See all 3 meanings of backscratch

Noun

backscratching (countable and uncountable, plural backscratchings)

  1. The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.
    • Near-synonym: logrolling
    • She babysits the kids, and we mow her lawn. A little backscratching never hurt anybody!
    Synonyms:
    logrolling
    1. (often) Such behavior that is corrupt.
      • You have to "tip" the inspector if you want a license in this town. Too much backscratching around here!
      • They discovered a citation ring: a group of researchers citing one another inordinately. This backscratching aimed to inflate their article-level metrics and author-level metrics.

Synonyms of backscratching

Forms of backscratching

pluralbackscratchings

Questions about backscratching

What does backscratching mean?
Backscratching means the act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.
What is backscratching the present participle and gerund of?
Backscratching is the present participle and gerund of backscratch.
What part of speech is backscratching?
Backscratching is a noun.
What is the plural of backscratching?
The plural of backscratching is backscratchings.

Words near backscratching in the dictionary

  1. backscratch
  2. backscratched
  3. backscratcher
  4. backscratchers
  5. backscratches
  6. backscratching
  7. backscratchings
  8. backscreen
  9. backscreens
  10. backscroll
  11. backseat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: backscratching (page history and authors); backscratch (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: “backscratching.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backscratching. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.