"backfoot" meaning in English

See backfoot in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: backfoots [present, singular, third-person], backfooting [participle, present], backfooted [participle, past], backfooted [past]
Etymology: From back + foot. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|back|foot}} back + foot Head templates: {{en-verb}} backfoot (third-person singular simple present backfoots, present participle backfooting, simple past and past participle backfooted)
  1. (transitive) To put on the defensive; to put off balance. Tags: transitive Synonyms: back-foot Related terms: on the back foot, on the back footing
    Sense id: en-backfoot-en-verb-ckqfRfXH Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back",
        "3": "foot"
      },
      "expansion": "back + foot",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From back + foot.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backfoots",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backfooting",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backfooted",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backfooted",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backfoot (third-person singular simple present backfoots, present participle backfooting, simple past and past participle backfooted)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1996, Kenneth Branagh, “The Film diaries”, in Hamlet, page 188:",
          "text": "Hamlet is bitter, evasive, now backfooting them, now attacking, now genial - their job isn't going to be easy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 February 21, “Japan opposition gears up for showdown on Livedoor”, in Boston Globe:",
          "text": "Koizumi's government has been backfooted by the indictment of Horie, the former CEO of Livedoor Co., on charges of violating securities regulations",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To put on the defensive; to put off balance."
      ],
      "id": "en-backfoot-en-verb-ckqfRfXH",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To put on the defensive; to put off balance."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "on the back foot"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the back footing"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "back-foot"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backfoot"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back",
        "3": "foot"
      },
      "expansion": "back + foot",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From back + foot.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backfoots",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backfooting",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backfooted",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backfooted",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backfoot (third-person singular simple present backfoots, present participle backfooting, simple past and past participle backfooted)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "on the back foot"
    },
    {
      "word": "on the back footing"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English compound terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1996, Kenneth Branagh, “The Film diaries”, in Hamlet, page 188:",
          "text": "Hamlet is bitter, evasive, now backfooting them, now attacking, now genial - their job isn't going to be easy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 February 21, “Japan opposition gears up for showdown on Livedoor”, in Boston Globe:",
          "text": "Koizumi's government has been backfooted by the indictment of Horie, the former CEO of Livedoor Co., on charges of violating securities regulations",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To put on the defensive; to put off balance."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To put on the defensive; to put off balance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "back-foot"
    }
  ],
  "word": "backfoot"
}

Download raw JSONL data for backfoot meaning in English (1.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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