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.
双语例句
1. The car passed over the body twice, once backward and then forward.
那辆车把那人来回轧了两次，先是倒着轧的，再是往前开着轧的。
来自柯林斯例句
2. History may judge the enterprise to have been rather backward-looking.
历史也许会证明这一雄心勃勃的计划过于保守了。
来自柯林斯例句
3. We need to accelerate the pace of change in our backward country.
我们应当为落后的祖国加快变革的脚步。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He took two steps backward.
他后退了两步。
来自柯林斯例句
5. She strode past him without a backward glance .
