BACKBONE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Backbone

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/bˈækbˌoʊn/ Listen

noun

Backbone n.

The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal column.

Anything like, or serving the purpose of, a backbone. "The lofty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country." "We have now come to the backbone of our subject."

Firmness; moral principle; steadfastness. "Shelley's thought never had any backbone."

To the backbone, through and through; thoroughly; entirely. "Staunch to the backbone."

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Etymology of 'Backbone'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Backbone" Quotes from Famous Books

... inheritance that will follow Galton's arithmetical treatment of heredity with some exactness. But we are not even sure of that. The height of one particular person may be due to an exceptional length of leg and neck, of another to an abnormal length of the vertebral bodies of the backbone; the former may have a rather less than ordinary backbone, the latter a stunted type of limb, and an intermarriage may just as conceivably (so far as our present knowledge goes) give the backbone of the first and the legs of the second as it ...

— Mankind in the Making • H. G. Wells

... inscription under his feet which said, "Don Sancho de Azpeitia," which no doubt must have been his name; and at the feet of Rocinante was another that said, "Don Quixote." Rocinante was marvellously portrayed, so long and thin, so lank and lean, with so much backbone and so far gone in consumption, that he showed plainly with what judgment and propriety the name of Rocinante had been bestowed upon him. Near him was Sancho Panza holding the halter of his ass, at whose feet was another ...

— Don Quixote • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

... overview: The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the fifth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the second-largest gas exporter; it ranks 14th in oil reserves. Algeria's financial and economic indicators ...

— The 2003 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency

... the daughter of the late Duc de Marny, one of the oldest names in France; a Royalist to the backbone..." ...

— I Will Repay • Baroness Emmuska Orczy

... said Amos. "Grazed the top of the lungs and came to the surface near the backbone. Lord, that ...

— Lydia of the Pines • Honore Willsie Morrow

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