Word.ws English Dictionary

strongback

strongback noun: the fore-and-aft spar extending from stem to stern on a lifeboat and serving as a raised spreader for a boat cover. (FM 55-501).

Noun

strongback (plural strongbacks)

  1. The fore-and-aft spar extending from stem to stern on a lifeboat and serving as a raised spreader for a boat cover. (FM 55-501)
  2. A strong bar placed across a hatch opening to hold hatch boards or hatch covers. (FM 55-501)
  3. A load-bearing post with a T-shaped cross-section, where the short T-tail prevents bowing of the long post.
  4. (sculpture) A backing pole used to reinforce and stabilize vertically-oriented sculptures.
  5. A vertical structure used to support and stabilize a rocket, often hosting fuel and power umbilical connections. Usually retracted immediately before launch.

Forms of strongback

pluralstrongbacks

Origin of strongback

From strong + back.

Questions about strongback

What does strongback mean?
Strongback means the fore-and-aft spar extending from stem to stern on a lifeboat and serving as a raised spreader for a boat cover. (FM 55-501).
What part of speech is strongback?
Strongback is a noun.
What is the plural of strongback?
The plural of strongback is strongbacks.

Words near strongback in the dictionary

  1. strong-willed
  2. strongarm
  3. strongarmed
  4. strongarming
  5. strongarms
  6. strongback
  7. strongbacks
  8. strongbark
  9. strongbarks
  10. strongbox
  11. strongboxes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: strongback (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: “strongback.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strongback. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.