Word Meanings - BACKBONE - Book Publishers vocabulary database

1. The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal column. 2. Anything like , or serving the purpose of, a backbone. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis,

Additional info about word: BACKBONE

1. The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal column. 2. Anything like , or serving the purpose of, a backbone. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country. Darwin. We have now come to the backbone of our subject. Earle. 3. Firmness; moral principle; steadfastness. Shelley's thought never had any backbone. Shairp. To the backbone, through and through; thoroughly; entirely. "Staunch to the backbone." Lord Lytton.

Related words: (words related to BACKBONE)

• SERVING
  a & n. from Serve. Serving board , a flat piece of wood used in serving ropes. -- Serving maid, a female servant; a maidservant. -- Serving mallet , a wooden instrument shaped like a mallet, used in serving ropes. -- Serving man, a male servant,
• SPINEL; SPINELLE
  A mineral occuring in octahedrons of great hardness and various colors, as red, green, blue, brown, and black, the red variety being the gem spinel ruby. It consist essentially of alumina and magnesia, but commonly contains iron and sometimes also
• SPINED
  Furnished with spines; spiny.
• PURPOSELESS
  Having no purpose or result; objectless. Bp. Hall. -- Pur"pose*less*ness, n.
• NORTHERNMOST
  Farthest north.
• SPINEL
  Bleached yarn in making the linen tape called inkle; unwrought inkle. Knight.
• SERVO-MOTOR
  A relay apparatus; specif.: An auxiliary motor, regulated by a hand lever, for quickly and easily moving the reversing gear of a large marine engine into any desired position indicated by that of the hand lever, which controls the valve
• SERVILELY
  In a servile manner; slavishly.
• GIVES
  Fetters.
• NORTHERN
  1. Of or pertaining to the north; being in the north, or nearer to that point than to the east or west. 2. In a direction toward the north; as, to steer a northern course; coming from the north; as, a northern wind. Northern diver. See Loon. --
• NORTHMAN
  One of the inhabitants of the north of Europe; esp., one of the ancient Scandinavians; a Norseman.
• COLUMN
  A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. See Order. 2. Anything resembling, in form or position, a column an architecture;
• SERVILENESS
  Quality of being servile; servility.
• NORTHMOST
  Lying farthest north; northernmost. Northmost part of the coast of Mozambique. De Foe.
• SERVABLE
  Capable of being preserved. (more info) 1. Capable of being served. 2. Etym:
• NORTHEAST
  Of or pertaining to the northeast; proceeding toward the northeast, or coming from that point; as, a northeast course; a northeast wind. Northeast passage, a passage or communication by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the north
• SERVITORSHIP
  The office, rank, or condition of a servitor. Boswell.
• SERVER
  1. One who serves. 2. A tray for dishes; a salver. Randolph.
• PURPOSE
  1. That which a person sets before himself as an object to be reached or accomplished; the end or aim to which the view is directed in any plan, measure, or exertion; view; aim; design; intention; plan. He will his firste purpos modify. Chaucer.
• SPINE-TAILED
  Having the tail quills ending in sharp, naked tips. Spine- tailed swift. See Spinetail .
• DISSERVE
  To fail to serve; to do injury or mischief to; to damage; to hurt; to harm. Have neither served nor disserved the interests of any party. Jer. Taylor. (more info) Etym:
• RESERVE
  1. To keep back; to retain; not to deliver, make over, or disclose. "I have reserved to myself nothing." Shak. 2. Hence, to keep in store for future or special use; to withhold from present use for another purpose or time; to keep; to retain. Gen.
• UNFRAME
  To take apart, or destroy the frame of. Dryden.
• DESERVEDNESS
  Meritoriousness.
• CONSERVATIONAL
  Tending to conserve; preservative.
• SACROVERTEBRAL
  Of or pertaining to the sacrum and that part of the vertebral column immediately anterior to it; as, the sacrovertebral angle.
• WHETTLEBONES
  The vertebræ of the back. Dunglison.
• DECOMPOSE
  To separate the constituent parts of; to resolve into original elements; to set free from previously existing forms of chemical combination; to bring to dissolution; to rot or decay.
• MISOBSERVE
  To observe inaccurately; to mistake in observing. Locke.
• SUBSERVIENCE; SUBSERVIENCY
  The quality or state of being subservient; instrumental fitness or use; hence, willingness to serve another's purposes; in a derogatory sense, servility. The body wherein appears much fitness, use, and subserviency to infinite functions. Bentley.
• INSERVE
  To be of use to an end; to serve.
• SEMICOLUMNAR
  Like a semicolumn; flat on one side and round on the other; imperfectly columnar.