BACKBONE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does backbone mean? 

• BACKBONE (noun)
  The noun BACKBONE has 5 senses:

1. a central cohesive source of support and stability

2. fortitude and determination

3. the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord

4. the part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved

5. the part of a network that connects other networks together

  Familiarity information: BACKBONE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BACKBONE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A central cohesive source of support and stability

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

anchor; backbone; keystone; linchpin; lynchpin; mainstay

Context example:

he is the linchpin of this firm

Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):

support (something providing immaterial assistance to a person or cause or interest)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fortitude and determination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

backbone; grit; gumption; guts; moxie; sand

Context example:

he didn't have the guts to try it

Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):

fortitude (strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

back; backbone; rachis; spinal column; spine; vertebral column

Context example:

the fall broke his back

Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):

skeletal structure (any structure created by the skeleton of an organism)

Meronyms (parts of "backbone"):

canalis vertebralis; spinal canal; vertebral canal (the canal in successive vertebrae through which the spinal cord passes)

coccyx; tail bone (the end of the vertebral column in humans and tailless apes)

vertebra (one of the bony segments of the spinal column)

intervertebral disc; intervertebral disk (a fibrocartilaginous disc serving as a cushion between all of the vertebrae of the spinal column (except between the first two))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "backbone"):

notochord (a flexible rodlike structure that forms the supporting axis of the body in the lowest chordates and lowest vertebrates and in embryos of higher vertebrates)

chine (backbone of an animal)

Holonyms ("backbone" is a part of...):

axial skeleton (the part of the skeleton that includes the skull and spinal column and sternum and ribs)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

backbone; spine

Context example:

the title and author were printed on the spine of the book

Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):

part; portion (something less than the whole of a human artifact)

Holonyms ("backbone" is a part of...):

book; volume (physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound together)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The part of a network that connects other networks together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the backbone is the part of a communication network that carries the heaviest traffic

Hypernyms ("backbone" is a kind of...):

connecter; connection; connective; connector; connexion (an instrumentality that connects)

Holonyms ("backbone" is a part of...):

mesh; meshing; meshwork; net; network (an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals)

 Context examples 

Any substance found in the diet, comprising a glycerol backbone covalently bound to fatty acids in 2 positions, and to a phosphate group in the third position.

(Dietary Phospholipid, NCI Thesaurus)

Any substance found in the diet, comprising a glycerol backbone covalently bound to fatty acids in 2 positions, and to a phosphoinositide.

(Dietary Phosphatidylinositol, NCI Thesaurus)

The smaller of the two types of spiral grooves found on a right-handed DNA double helix; located between the sugar phosphate backbones of two DNA strands.

(Minor Groove, NCI Thesaurus)

All mitomycins have the backbone of methyl, aziridine, pyrrolo, indole, and dione moieties.

(Mitomycin Antineoplastic Antibiotic, NCI Thesaurus)

A water-soluble prodrug, consisting of camptothecin covalently linked to polymeric backbone methacryloylglycynamide, with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Mureletecan, NCI Thesaurus)

Naturally occurring dietary fatty acids have a carbon backbone that ranges in length from 4 to 24 units.

(Dietary Fatty Acid, NCI Thesaurus)

Deoxyribonucleases belong to a larger family of nucleases, which cleave DNA bases at various positions in the DNA backbone.

(Deoxyribonuclease, NCI Thesaurus)

The eicosasodium salt of a mixed-backbone antisense oligodeoxynucleotide with chemosensitizing properties.

(Custirsen sodium, NCI Thesaurus)

Two major conformational groups have been characterized, alpha-keratin, whose peptide backbone forms an alpha-helix, and beta-keratin, whose backbone forms a zigzag or pleated sheet structure.

(Cytokeratin, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Their ribs is like wash-boards, an' their stomachs is right up against their backbones.

(White Fang, by Jack London)