c. 1300, from abakward, from Old English on bæc (see back (adv.)) + -weard adjectival and adverbial suffix (see -ward). Old English had the adverb bæcling. As an adjective, from 1550s. Meaning "behindhand with regard to progress" is first attested 1690s. To ring bells backward (from lowest to highest), c. 1500, was a signal of alarm for fire or invasion, or to express dismay. Another Middle English word for "backward, wrongly" was arseward (c. 1400); Old English had earsling.
雙語例句
1. The car passed over the body twice, once backward and then forward.
那輛車把那人來回軋了兩次，先是倒著軋的，再是往前開著軋的。
來自柯林斯例句
2. History may judge the enterprise to have been rather backward-looking.
曆史也許會證明這一雄心勃勃的計劃過於保守了。
來自柯林斯例句
3. We need to accelerate the pace of change in our backward country.
我們應當為落後的祖國加快變革的腳步。
來自柯林斯例句
4. He took two steps backward.
他後退了兩步。
來自柯林斯例句
5. She strode past him without a backward glance .