Word.ws English Dictionary

wind at one's back

wind at one's back noun: forward momentum; a boost in one's prospects for success due to favorable events or circumstances.

Noun

wind at one's back

  1. (idiomatic) Forward momentum; a boost in one's prospects for success due to favorable events or circumstances.
    • And the Tulsa symphony credits the station with reversing a decline in ticket sales among younger patrons. "We've got the wind at our back," Mr. Cohn said.1997 April 7, Andrea Adelson, “Broadening the Appeal of Classical Music Radio”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Jul 2015
    • Most of the rational world . . . foresaw a smooth ride to victory for Democrats. They had, after all, the wind at their backs from the 2006 midterm elections.2008 April 23, Amy Sullivan, “A Primary with No End”, in Time, retrieved 03 Jul 2015

Questions about wind at one's back

What does wind at one's back mean?
Wind at one's back means forward momentum; a boost in one's prospects for success due to favorable events or circumstances.
What part of speech is wind at one's back?
Wind at one's back is a noun.

Words near wind at one's back in the dictionary

  1. wincopipes
  2. wincyette
  3. wincyettes
  4. wind
  5. wind around one's little finger
  6. wind at one's back
  7. wind back
  8. wind back the clock
  9. wind band
  10. wind bands
  11. wind blocker

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wind at one's back (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-wind at one's back.ogg.

Cite this entry: “wind at one's back.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wind_at_one%27s_back. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.