BACKFLOW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does backflow mean? 

• BACKFLOW (noun)
  The noun BACKFLOW has 1 sense:

1. a flow that returns toward its source

  Familiarity information: BACKFLOW used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BACKFLOW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A flow that returns toward its source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

backflow; backflowing

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

flow; flowing (the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases))

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

regurgitation (backflow of blood through a defective heart valve)

 Context examples 

A device component of a catheter assembly designed to prevent backflow of blood and thus minimize inadvertent blood loss while accessing the vasculature.

(Hemo Valve Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Now, the discovery of small amounts of Neanderthal DNA in west African people is most likely to reflect genetic backflow into Africa from Eurasia.

(Global human genome study reveals our complex evolutionary history, University of Cambridge)

The evidence includes bits of charcoal, jumbles of rock brought in by a tsunami's backflow, and conspicuously absent sulfur.

(Rocks at asteroid impact site record first day of dinosaur extinction, National Science Foundation)

The valve between the left ventricle and the ascending aorta which prevents backflow into the left ventricle.

(Aortic Valve, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)