Definition of Background

1. Noun. A person's social heritage: previous experience or training. "He is a lawyer with a sports background"

Generic synonyms: Heritage, Inheritance

2. Verb. Understate the importance or quality of. "He played down his royal ancestry"
Exact synonyms: Downplay, Play Down
Specialized synonyms: Wave Off, Soft-pedal
Generic synonyms: Accent, Accentuate, Emphasise, Emphasize, Punctuate, Stress
Antonyms: Foreground, Play Up

3. Noun. The part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground. "He posed her against a background of rolling hills"
Exact synonyms: Ground
Generic synonyms: Aspect, Panorama, Prospect, Scene, View, Vista

4. Noun. Information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem. "The embassy filled him in on the background of the incident"
Exact synonyms: Background Knowledge
Generic synonyms: Information
Derivative terms: Backgrounder

5. Noun. Extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured. "They got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals"
Exact synonyms: Background Signal
Generic synonyms: Disturbance, Interference, Noise
Specialized synonyms: Background Noise, Ground Noise, Background Radiation

6. Noun. Relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation. "When the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"

7. Noun. The state of the environment in which a situation exists. "You can't do that in a university setting"
Exact synonyms: Scope, Setting
Generic synonyms: Environment
Specialized synonyms: Canvas, Canvass, Show Window, Showcase
Derivative terms: Scopal

8. Noun. (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear.
Exact synonyms: Desktop, Screen Background
Generic synonyms: Crt Screen, Screen
Category relationships: Computer Science, Computing

9. Noun. Scenery hung at back of stage.
Exact synonyms: Backcloth, Backdrop
Generic synonyms: Scene, Scenery

Definition of Background

1. n. Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.

Definition of Background

1. Noun. One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously. ¹

2. Noun. A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context. ¹

3. Noun. Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history. ¹

4. Noun. A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground.) ¹

5. Noun. (computing) The image or color, over which a computer's desktop items are show (e.g. icons or application windows). ¹

6. Noun. (computing) Activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user ¹

7. Verb. To put in a position that is not prominent ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Background

1. [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Background

backflushes
backflushing
backfoot
backformation
backformations
backfriend
backfriends
backgain
backgammon
backgammon board
backgammoned
backgammoning
backgammons
background (current term)
background knowledge
background level
background music
background noise
background process
background processes
background processing
background radiation
background radiations
background retinopathy
background signal
backgrounded
backgrounder
backgrounders

Literary usage of Background

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1883)
"Result: background contribution constant and almost always statistically ... Because of the stable low background. And because of our highly trained, ..."

2. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1920)
""It was slightly whiter than the background, which became light gray" (9 Z 3). ... "The figure was of a dark gray and the background was white" (IS Ca 3). ..."

3. History of Manufactures in the United States by Victor Selden Clark (1916)
"European background to American manufactures; periods of manufacturing ... In spite of independence, the European background to American industry played as ..."

4. Microbial and Phenotypic Definition of Rats and Mice: Proceedings of the by National Research Council Staff, Commission on Life Sciences, ebrary, Inc, International Committee (1999)
"... background and Phenotypes in Animal Models of Human Diseases Kazuo Moriwaki Vice President, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies Kanagawa-ken, ..."

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