Adjacent Words

Behind definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BEHIND, prep.
1. At the back of another; as, to ride behind a horseman.
2. On the back part, at any distance; in the rear; as, to walk behind another.
3. Remaining; left after the departure of another, whether by removing to a distance, or by death; as, a man leaves his servant behind him, or his estate at his decease.
4. Left at a distance, in progress or improvement; as, one student is behind another in mathematics.
5. Inferior to another in dignity and excellence.
For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 2 Corinthians 11.
6. On the side opposite to that which fronts a person; on the other side; as behind a bed; behind a hill; behind a house, tree, or rock.
Behind the back, in scripture, signifies,out of notice, or regard; overlooked; disregarded.
They cast thy laws behind their backs. Nehemiah 19. Isaiah 38.
BEHIND, adv. [be and hind.] Out of sight; not produced, or exhibited to view; remaining; as, we know no what evidence is behind.
1. Backwards; on the back-part; as, to look behind.
2. Past in the progress of time.
3. Future, or remaining to be endured.
And fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh. Colossians 1.
4. Remaining after a payment; unpaid; as, there is a large sum behind.
5. Remaining after the departure of; as, he departed and left us behind.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having the lower score or lagging position in a contest; "behind by two points"; "the 8th inning found the home team trailing" n
1: the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on; "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?" [syn: buttocks, nates, arse, butt, backside, bum, buns, can, fundament, hindquarters, hind end, keister, posterior, prat, rear, rear end, rump, stern, seat, tail, tail end, tooshie, tush, bottom, behind, derriere, fanny, ass] adv
1: in or to or toward the rear; "he followed behind"; "seen from behind, the house is more imposing than it is from the front"; "the final runners were far behind"
2: remaining in a place or condition that has been left or departed from; "when he died he left much unfinished work behind"; "left a large family behind"; "the children left their books behind"; "he took off with a squeal of tires and left the other cars far behind"
3: of timepieces; "the clock is almost an hour slow"; "my watch is running behind" [syn: behind, slow]
4: in or into an inferior position; "fell behind in his studies"; "their business was lagging behind in the competition for customers"
5: in debt; "he fell behind with his mortgage payments"; "a month behind in the rent"; "a company that has been run behindhand for years"; "in arrears with their utility bills" [syn: behind, behindhand, in arrears]

Merriam Webster's

I. adverb or adjective Etymology: Middle English behinde, from Old English behindan, from be- + hindan from behind; akin to Old English hinder behind — more at hind Date: before 12th century 1. a. in the place or situation that is being or has been departed from <stay behind> b. in, to, or toward the back <look behind> <came from behind> c. later in time <can spring be far behind> 2. a. in a secondary or inferior position b. in arrears <behind in the rent> c. slow 3. archaic still to come II. preposition Date: before 12th century 1. a. in or to a place or situation in back of or to the rear of <look behind you> <put behind bars> b. — used as a function word to indicate something that screens an observer <the sun went behind a cloud> c. following in order <marched behind the band> 2. — used as a function word to indicate backwardness, delay, or deficiency <behind the times> <behind schedule> <lagged behind last year's sales> 3. a. in the background of <the conditions behind the strike> b. out of the mind or consideration of <put our troubles behind us> c. beyond in depth or time <the story behind the story> <go back behind St. Augustine> 4. a. in support of ; on the side of <solidly behind the candidate> b. with the support of <won 1-0 behind brilliant pitching> III. noun Etymology: ¹behind Date: circa 1830 buttocks — often used as a euphemism for ass in idiomatic expressions <get your behind over here>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

prep., adv., & n. --prep. 1 a in, towards, or to the rear of. b on the further side of (behind the bush). c hidden by (something behind that remark). 2 a in the past in relation to (trouble is behind me now). b late in relation to (behind schedule). 3 inferior to; weaker than (rather behind the others in his maths). 4 a in support of (she's right behind us). b responsible for; giving rise to (the man behind the project; the reasons behind his resignation). 5 in the tracks of; following. --adv. 1 a in or to or towards the rear; further back (the street behind; glance behind). b on the further side (a high wall with a field behind). 2 remaining after departure (leave behind; stay behind). 3 (usu. foll. by with) a in arrears (behind with the rent). b late in accomplishing a task etc. (working too slowly and getting behind). 4 in a weak position; backward (behind in Latin). 5 following (his dog running behind). --n. 1 colloq. the buttocks. 2 (in Australian Rules) a kick etc. scoring one point. Phrases and idioms: behind a person's back without a person's knowledge. behind the scenes see SCENE. behind time late. behind the times antiquated. come from behind win after lagging. fall (or lag) behind not keep up. put behind one 1 refuse to consider. 2 get over (an unhappy experience etc.). Etymology: OE behindan, bihindan f. bi BY + hindan from behind, hinder below

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Behind Be*hind", prep. [AS. behindan; pref. be- + hindan. See Hind, a.] 1. On the side opposite the front or nearest part; on the back side of; at the back of; on the other side of; as, behind a door; behind a hill. A tall Brabanter, behind whom I stood. --Bp. Hall. 2. Left after the departure of, whether this be by removing to a distance or by death. A small part of what he left behind him. --Pope. 3. Left a distance by, in progress of improvement Hence: Inferior to in dignity, rank, knowledge, or excellence, or in any achievement. I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. --2 Cor. xi. 5.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Behind Be*hind", adv. 1. At the back part; in the rear. ``I shall not lag behind.'' --Milton. 2. Toward the back part or rear; backward; as, to look behind. 3. Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining. We can not be sure that there is no evidence behind. --Locke. 4. Backward in time or order of succession; past. Forgetting those things which are behind. --Phil. ii. 13. 5. After the departure of another; as, to stay behind. Leave not a rack behind. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Behind Be*hind", n. The backside; the rump. [Low]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

I. PREPOSITION AND ADVERB USES Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: In addition to the uses shown below, 'behind' is also used in a few phrasal verbs, such as 'fall behind' and 'lie behind'. Please look at category 14 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword. 1. If something is behind a thing or person, it is on the other side of them from you, or nearer their back rather than their front. I put one of the cushions behind his head... They were parked behind the truck... PREP • Behind is also an adverb. Rising into the hills behind are 800 acres of parkland... She was attacked from behind. ADV: usu n ADV, from ADV 2. If you are walking or travelling behind someone or something, you are following them. Keith wandered along behind him... Myra and Sam and the children were driving behind them. PREP • Behind is also an adverb. The troopers followed behind, every muscle tensed for the sudden gunfire. ADV: ADV after v 3. If someone is behind a desk, counter, or bar, they are on the other side of it from where you are. The colonel was sitting behind a cheap wooden desk... He could just about see the little man behind the counter. PREP 4. When you shut a door or gate behind you, you shut it after you have gone through it. I walked out and closed the door behind me... He slammed the gate shut behind him. PREP: PREP pron 5. The people, reason, or events behind a situation are the causes of it or are responsible for it. It is still not clear who was behind the killing... He is embarrassed about the motives behind his decision. PREP 6. If something or someone is behind you, they support you and help you. He had the state's judicial power behind him. PREP: PREP pron 7. If you refer to what is behind someone's outside appearance, you are referring to a characteristic which you cannot immediately see or is not obvious, but which you think is there. What lay behind his anger was really the hurt he felt at Grace's refusal... PREP 8. If you are behind someone, you are less successful than them, or have done less or advanced less. Food production has already fallen behind the population growth. ? ahead of PREP • Behind is also an adverb. The rapid development of technology means that she is now far behind, and will need retraining... ADV: be ADV, ADV after v 9. If an experience is behind you, it happened in your past and will not happen again, or no longer affects you. Maureen put the nightmare behind her... PREP: PREP pron 10. If you have a particular achievement behind you, you have managed to reach this achievement, and other people consider it to be important or valuable. He has 20 years of loyal service to Barclays Bank behind him... PREP: have/with n PREP pron 11. If something is behind schedule, it is not as far advanced as people had planned. If someone is behind schedule, they are not progressing as quickly at something as they had planned. The work is 22 weeks behind schedule... ? ahead of PREP: oft n PREP n 12. If you stay behind, you remain in a place after other people have gone. About 1,200 personnel will remain behind to take care of the air base. ADV: ADV after v 13. If you leave something or someone behind, you do not take them with you when you go. The rebels fled into the mountains, leaving behind their weapons and supplies... ADV: ADV after v 14. to do something behind someone's back: see back behind bars: see bar behind the scenes: see scene behind the times: see time II. NOUN USE (behinds) Your behind is the part of your body that you sit on. = bottom N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. prep. 1. Abaft, at the back of, in the rear of. 2. After, following. II. ad. 1. Backward, back. 2. Abaft, aft, astern, rearward, in the rear, at the back.

Moby Thesaurus

after, after time, afterpart, afterpiece, afterward, arrested, back, back door, back of, back seat, back side, back to back, backside, backward, behind the scenes, behind time, behindhand, belatedly, below, beyond, bottom, breech, butt, buttocks, by and by, can, checked, croup, crupper, deep into, delayed, derriere, detained, fanny, far on, following, haunches, heel, heinie, hind end, hind part, hindhead, impeded, in arrear, in arrears, in back of, in support of, in the background, in the rear, infra, late, later, later than, latterly, nates, next, none too soon, occiput, past, posterior, postern, rear, rear end, rearward, retarded, reverse, rump, set back, since, slow, slowed down, stern, subsequent to, subsequently, supporting, tail, tail end, tailpiece, tandem, tardy