BACKLOG • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Backlog

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/bˈæklˌɑg/ /bˈæklˌɔg/ Listen

noun

Backlog n.

A large stick of wood, forming the back of a fire on the hearth. Contrasted to forestick. (U.S.) "There was first a backlog, from fifteen to four and twenty inches in diameter and five feet long, imbedded in the ashes."

An accumulation (of tasks or of materials) that were not performed or processed at the normal time and require attention; as, unexpected demand led to a large backlog of unfilled orders; politically motivated delays led to a large backlog of unconfirmed judicial appointments.

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Etymology of 'Backlog'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Backlog" Quotes from Famous Books

... onset of the financial crisis in Russia dashed Ukraine's hopes for its first year of economic growth in 1998 due to a sharp fall in export revenue and reduced domestic demand. Output continued to drop, slightly, in 1999. The government has also not been able to significantly decrease its huge backlog of wage and pension arrears. Despite increasing pressure from the IMF to accelerate reform, substantial economic restructuring remains unlikely in 2000, largely because of resistance in the communist-dominated legislature to ...

— The 2000 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... the hearth, select first a heavy log which should be placed close against the back of the fire chamber on the hearth and not on the andirons. This is the traditional "backlog." It will serve through several fires and is intended mainly as a protection of the back brickwork. Stand the andirons with their rear ends close up against the backlog, and if the latter is of the best size its top will be well above the horizontal bars of the andirons. ...

— Making a Fireplace • Henry H. Saylor

... opened the door and led the way into a long library where in the fireplace a pine backlog, crisscrossed by sturdy forelogs of birch and maple, awaited the touch of a match. It was given, and the room was filled with a flaring light that made the soft lamplight ...

— David Dunne - A Romance of the Middle West • Belle Kanaris Maniates

... dinies down, and they got worried over the work they were neglectin'. So they took turns diggin', like prisoners in a penitentiary, and presently they broke out and like the faithful creatures they are they set anxious to work on their backlog of diny-catchin'. Which they're doin'. They've ruined us ...

— Attention Saint Patrick • William Fitzgerald Jenkins

... now, the nights are crisp and chill, The wind comes down the chimbly with a whistle sharp and shrill, The dead leaves rasp and rustle in the corner by the shed, And the branches scratch and rattle on the skylight overhead. The cracklin' blaze is climbin' up around the old backlog, As we set by the fireplace here, myself and cat and dog; And as fer me, I'm thinkin', as the fire burns clear and bright, That it must be mighty lonesome fer the Widder ...

— Cape Cod Ballads, and Other Verse • Joseph C. Lincoln

... two chairs drawn up before the hearth, on which a huge hemlock backlog was still smouldering, and on the un-painted deal counter contiguous stood two cloudy glasses with bits of lemon-peel in the bottom, hinting at recent libations. Against the discolored wall over the bar hung a yellowed handbill, ...

— Miss Mehetabel's Son • Thomas Bailey Aldrich