"backdrop" meaning in English

See backdrop in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈbæk.drɒp/ [UK], /ˈbæk.drɑp/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backdrop.wav [UK] Forms: backdrop [singular], backdrops [plural]
Etymology: back + drop Etymology templates: {{compound|back|drop}} back + drop Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A backdrop is a decorated cloth hung at the back of a stage.
    Sense id: simple-backdrop-en-noun-C9b4suLu
  2. The backdrop is the conditions or situation in which something happens.
    Sense id: simple-backdrop-en-noun-gT34ZnID

Verb

IPA: /ˈbæk.drɒp/ [UK], /ˈbæk.drɑp/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backdrop.wav [UK] Forms: backdrop [canonical], backdrops [third-person, singular], backdropped [past], backdropped [past, participle], backdropping [present, participle]
Etymology: back + drop Etymology templates: {{compound|back|drop}} back + drop Head templates: {{verb|backdrop|p}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If A backdrops B, A serve as a backdrop for B.
    Sense id: simple-backdrop-en-verb-aO7cSUcv
{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "back",
        "2": "drop"
      },
      "expansion": "back + drop",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "back + drop",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backdrop",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdrops",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "A backdrop is a decorated cloth hung at the back of a stage."
      ],
      "id": "simple-backdrop-en-noun-C9b4suLu",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Investors have bought safe assets against a backdrop of uncertainty."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The backdrop is the conditions or situation in which something happens."
      ],
      "id": "simple-backdrop-en-noun-gT34ZnID",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɒp/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɑp/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backdrop.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backdrop"
}

{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "back",
        "2": "drop"
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      "expansion": "back + drop",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "back + drop",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backdrop",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdrops",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdropped",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdropped",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdropping",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "backdrop",
        "2": "p"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "If A backdrops B, A serve as a backdrop for B."
      ],
      "id": "simple-backdrop-en-verb-aO7cSUcv",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɒp/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɑp/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backdrop.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
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}
{
  "categories": [
    "Compound terms"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "back",
        "2": "drop"
      },
      "expansion": "back + drop",
      "name": "compound"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "back + drop",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backdrop",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdrops",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A backdrop is a decorated cloth hung at the back of a stage."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Investors have bought safe assets against a backdrop of uncertainty."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The backdrop is the conditions or situation in which something happens."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɒp/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɑp/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backdrop.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backdrop"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Compound terms"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "back",
        "2": "drop"
      },
      "expansion": "back + drop",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "back + drop",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backdrop",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdrops",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdropped",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdropped",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdropping",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "backdrop",
        "2": "p"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If A backdrops B, A serve as a backdrop for B."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɒp/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk.drɑp/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backdrop.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backdrop"
}

Download raw JSONL data for backdrop meaning in English (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-05 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-04-03 using wiktextract (8c1bb29 and fb63907). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.