backstop
/ˈbæk.stɒp/
backstop noun: an object or a person put in the rear or in the back of something to reinforce, hold, support.
Noun
backstop (plural backstops)
- An object or a person put in the rear or in the back of something to reinforce, hold, support.
- A default arrangement that holds if all else fails.
- Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, this morning, said a time-limited backstop would be unacceptable, and has previously promised to vote down the UK’s Brexit withdrawal deal unless it features a satisfactory backstop.The Express, 7 June 2018
- "The 2½ years since have been about hammering home these points in any European capital that would listen. And in spite of capacity-sapping talks on the first point – Brexit, border and backstop – the Department of Foreign Affairs and other government departments have been working quietly to make...The Irish Times, 17 November 2018
- A wall or fence behind home plate.
- A catcher; the position of catcher.
- Bench may be the greatest catcher subjectively, but he's not statistically. Statwise, Yogi Berra is the all-time backstop, regardless of which measure you prefer. Berra's Total-Z is one-third of a standard deviation higher than Bench's, and his Core-Z average is a point better.2002, James F. Vail, Outrageous Fortune: What's Wrong with Hall of Fame Voting and How to Make It Statistically Sound, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 143
- The player who stands immediately behind the striking base.
- The longstop.
- The wicket-keeper.
- Something serving to bolster or support a cover story etc.
- […] to be set up in Indonesia with a phony book and school supplies company established in New York City as a backstop.1976, Joseph Burkholder Smith, Portrait of a Cold Warrior, page 116
- Closely representing an alibi, creating a backstop could involve such measures as having people available to verify the details of an agent's cover story.1990, Bruce W. Watson, Susan M. Watson, Gerald W. Hopple, United States intelligence: an encyclopedia, page 1974
Verb
backstop (third-person singular simple present backstops, present participle backstopping, simple past and past participle backstopped)
- To serve as backstop for.
- To bolster, support.
- Russia signalled on Monday it would backstop the European Union's bailout of Cyprus despite anger that the weekend rescue deal would impose heavy losses on uninsured depositors, many of them Russian.2013 March 26, Douglas Busvine, Darya Korsunskaya, “Russia backstops Cyprus bailout despite anger”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2013
Proper noun capitalized: Backstop
Backstop
- A proposed seamless border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in the event of Brexit.
backstop meaning in Tamil
backstop in Tamil
- பின் நிற்றல்
Forms of backstop
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | backstops |
| alternative form | back-stop |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | backstops |
| present participle | backstopping |
| past participle | backstopped |
| past | backstopped |
Origin of backstop
From back + stop.
Questions about backstop
- What does backstop mean?
- Backstop means an object or a person put in the rear or in the back of something to reinforce, hold, support.
- What is backstop in Tamil?
- Backstop in Tamil is பின் நிற்றல். See Backstop meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is backstop?
- Backstop can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce backstop?
- Backstop is pronounced /ˈbæk.stɒp/.
- What is the plural of backstop?
- The plural of backstop is backstops.
Words near backstop in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backstop (page history and authors); Backstop (page history and authors); backstop (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-backstop.ogg.
Cite this entry: “backstop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backstop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.