How to Use backward in a Sentence

backward

1 of 3 adverb
Definition of backwardnext
Synonyms for backwardnext
  • She took a small step backward.
  • I heard a noise behind me and glanced backward.
  • He pushed the throttle backward.
  • The narrative moves backward and forward in time.
  • Work backward through the process of getting to that point.
    — Peter Boolkah, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023
  • One day the car rolled backward down their street for a full block.
    — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
  • The sedan rolls backward out of the frame and the footage doesn’t capture where the three shooters go.
    — Austindedios, oregonlive, 28 Mar. 2023
  • This means Earth shifts backward, and our view changes as the years pass.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 18 Jan. 2024
  • Reynolds punched Malone in the face, sending him backward and to the ground.
    — Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2024
  • At the front of the hood, the six-inch strands stand straight up before the rows start streaming backward.
    — Michael Teo Van Runkle, Ars Technica, 26 Oct. 2023
  • The stunt was he’s getting shot, he gets propelled backward, hits the bar, and hits the ground.
    — Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2024
  • As the race crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, gusts of wind blew Parra backward.
    — Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 25 July 2023
  • McKenzie Forbes threw the ball with two hands backward over her head.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024
  • With Roo, her pet for the last six years, there’s no bending over backward.
    — Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2023
  • At the scene, deputies determined that Kessler fell backward and struck his head on the ground.
    — Julie Sharp, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2023
  • Bruce Pearl knows his team has helped itself but doesn’t want to take a step backward.
    — Mark Heim | [email protected], al, 9 Mar. 2023
  • The handle, which also has classy stitched edges, swivels backward out of view when not in use.
    — PCMAG, 17 Sep. 2023
  • William placed his tribute, took a few steps backward and made a salute with his white-gloved hand.
    — Simon Perry, Peoplemag, 12 Nov. 2023
  • His client was seen on video of the raid escorted out, forced to walk backward with his hands on his head.
    — Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 4 Apr. 2024
  • The deputy fired a stun gun at Cure and a fight ensued, with Cure grabbing the deputy by the neck and pushing his head backward, the video shows.
    — Char Adams, NBC News, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Then, reverse the movement to step backward and return to start.
    — Jennifer Nied, Women's Health, 17 May 2023
  • Or, instead of decades, maybe we had all been shoved a dozen centuries backward.
    — Chris Richards, Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2023
  • What had been a robust running game took a big step backward.
    — Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2023
  • The planet appears to be upside-down and spins backward.
    — Dean Regas, The Enquirer, 24 May 2023
  • In one shot, a sailor opens his pants to reveal a firework, then leans backward as sparks fly into the air.
    — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 24 May 2023
  • Keep back flat and hips level and take three steps forward, then three steps backward.
    — Andi Breitowich, Women's Health, 9 Mar. 2023
  • From that target date, work backward on a timeline that will slowly build to that goal in time.
    — Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2024
  • The spinning truck tires began losing traction and the truck started to slide backward, the CHP said.
    — Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 4 Mar. 2024
  • Brebbia went up and in on Fernando Tatis, who toppled backward out of the way.
    — Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2023
  • Half the seats face forward and half backward, with small tables where the center rows meet to face each other.
    — Lilit Marcus, CNN, 30 Mar. 2023
Advertisement

backward

2 of 3 adjective
  • In all, the Chargers’ sacks pushed the Jets backward 57 yards.
    — Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
  • Travis Scott has his line of Nikes with a backward swoosh.
    — Glenn Gamboa, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Aug. 2023
  • The first was a backward pass that got ruled as a 15-yard carry.
    — Steve Megargee, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Sep. 2022
  • And Tom had drawn a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard.
    — Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2022
  • Pat’s in the Flats was a safe haven for the backward washouts to make their mark creatively.
    — Annie Nickoloff, cleveland, 16 June 2022
  • Watt wore cuffed skinny jeans, a black T-shirt, and a backward ball cap.
    — WIRED, 17 Oct. 2023
  • The new chips button appears to show up next to the forward and backward arrows at the top of the inbox.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2022
  • Through shattered glass The killer wore a red ball cap, backward, and glasses.
    — Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2023
  • Then Tony falls, does a few backward flips down a cliff, and knocks himself dead on the biggest rock of all.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2022
  • Stennis took a backward pass from Dante Moore and brought it to the end zone — credited as a 9-yard run.
    — Wright Wilson, Detroit Free Press, 27 Nov. 2022
  • The chair turns around 360 degrees and smoothly glides forward and backward to rock the baby to sleep.
    — Casey Seiden, Parents, 11 July 2023
  • Toto did all the percussion in L.A. here, and Steve Lukather did some of the guitar backward sounds.
    — Max Evry, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2023
  • The Hall of Fame’s job is to look backward and honor past performance.
    — Fay Vincent, WSJ, 28 Jan. 2022
  • Davidson — out for a stroll, in a backward cap and T-shirt — was asked to rate his hockey knowledge on a 1-to-10 scale.
    — Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 1 July 2023
  • The mosh pit at the front had become too much and everyone needed to take three steps backward.
    — Doug George, Chicago Tribune, 17 Sep. 2022
  • And point guard Reggie Jackson, sitting along the baseline in a sweater and backward cap.
    — Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2022
  • The Bengals and Williams are looking forward now, not backward.
    — The Enquirer, 1 Aug. 2023
  • But at high tide, the creek flows upstream, as if backward, and broadens into a brackish pond.
    — Walter Nicklin, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2022
  • For Orchard to return it back to the academic researchers was a backward move.
    — Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, 27 Apr. 2023
  • Nicole loves to see Brooklyn in a backward hat, a tattoo-revealing sweatshirt, and a pair of jeans.
    — Madeline Fass, Vogue, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Items on backward hangers for a few months can be donated or sold.
    — Maryal Miller Carter, USA TODAY, 18 Aug. 2023
  • Louie wore a black maxi dress while Harrelson sported white pants, a blue shirt and a backward baseball cap.
    — Emma Kershaw, Peoplemag, 27 Feb. 2023
  • The presence of bangs and bowl cuts, sweater vests and backward caps will have anyone feeling nostalgic.
    — Emma Balter, Chron, 5 Oct. 2022
  • Perhaps the mother perceives that said kid wants to run the show, or that kid thinks the mother's country is somehow backward.
    — Sahaj Kaur Kohli, Washington Post, 22 June 2023
  • Paul Atreides, after all, is the only man in the Dune universe with the ability to see forward and backward in time.
    — EW.com, 20 Feb. 2024
  • Nolan walked around after the game wearing a backward hat and seemingly in good spirits.
    — oregonlive, 1 Oct. 2022
  • There’s also a trippy backward launch, a first for a Disney coaster.
    — Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 5 May 2022
  • Sit up and tilt your head forward with your chin down so the blood runs forward onto the tissue, rather than backward into your throat.
    — Beth Krietsch, SELF, 15 Nov. 2023
  • The assailant, who is seen wearing a backward baseball hat and a dark T-shirt, quickly walked away from the victims after the attack.
    — Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Trent Williams, a 13-year NFL veteran, is a mountain of a man best known for moving other large men backward.
    — Dominic Faria, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2024
Advertisement

backward

3 of 3 noun
  • Step one leg backward, and move the knee downward in a lunge.
    — NBC News, 7 June 2019
  • In the end, wearing bras for a week felt like a step backward for me.
    — Rachel Charlene Lewis, SELF, 31 Mar. 2018
  • The cousin was still holding King's hat and put it on backwards.
    — Elvia Malagon, chicagotribune.com, 17 May 2017
  • The force of the collision shoved the Neon backward into the guard rail on the east shoulder of Highway 99.
    — Cathy Locke, sacbee.com, 18 May 2017
  • McKenzie threw one backward over his head for a 15-yard loss.
    — Chris Hays, OrlandoSentinel.com, 22 Sep. 2017
  • Now, Accept does it, the movement is more all in the hips, but Accept is forward on the one and backward on the two.
    — Matt Wake | [email protected], al, 1 Apr. 2020
  • Stocks notched a rare-for-this-year backward slip as new storm clouds gathered over the Capitol.
    — Tory Newmyer, Washington Post, 19 Jan. 2018
  • In one motion Oladipo leaps backward and then rises for a 3-pointer that ties the score and silences the crowd.
    — Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star, 29 Apr. 2018
  • Among the reminders: Things like standing up on a sled or hurtling down a hill backward are not allowed.
    — Julie Bosman, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2020
  • Indeed, the problem was that somebody was a bit too hasty readying the saw that morning and had put the saw chain on the bar backward.
    — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 8 Nov. 2018
  • There are 10 days in February where the date reads the same backward and forwards, but Tuesday’s date is twice as nice.
    — Joseph De Avila, WSJ, 22 Feb. 2022
  • Sunday was a step or two backwards, and even these Rangers can't keep sending that out every fifth day.
    — Jeff Wilson, star-telegram, 13 June 2018
  • The first back-heel came at an inconsequential moment in the 30th minute, when Mbappé leapt in the air and sent a pass backward.
    — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 10 July 2018
  • Both wore a white baseball hat, Anderson with the brim in front, Isner with his turned his backward.
    — Howard Fendrich, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2018
  • The video shows Silbaugh sitting in the street when the officer approaches her and kicks her in the shoulder to knock her backward.
    — Kevin Flowers and Madeleine O'Neill, USA TODAY, 16 June 2020
  • The move involves bringing one leg backward, which mimics the movement of a reverse lunge.
    — Jenny McCoy, SELF, 22 Aug. 2018
  • To dust off your memory from English class, a palindrome is a word spelled the same backward as forward.
    — Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 24 June 2020
  • Callay!—in 1900 engineers made the river flush backward so now all our turds float to Saint Louis—unless there's heavy rain.
    — Brad Einstein, Chicago Reader, 20 Dec. 2017
  • To execute these squats, place a bar across your shoulder blades, bend your knees, and squat backward into your heels.
    — Julia Naftulin, Health.com, 30 June 2017
  • The final product is a light with two LEDs, one facing forward and one facing backward.
    — Madeline St. Amour, The Denver Post, 11 Aug. 2019
  • No one beats Kimpton Hotels’ bend-over-backward welcome to pets.
    — Pamela Wright, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Jan. 2021
  • Gase finished talking to the media and, hat on backwards, sat at a locker between Moore and Ryan Tannehill.
    — Dave Hyde, Sun-Sentinel.com, 22 Oct. 2017
  • The shirt itself is a kind of dusty cream, made from Japanese cotton, and all the e’s are facing backward, almost as a challenge.
    — Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 5 June 2019
  • Bending over with his hands over his head and throwing the football backward between his legs put a lot of pressure on Shannon’s back.
    — Tyler James, Indianapolis Star, 6 May 2020
  • Bo Nix spiked a snap backward, and it was ruled intentional grounding rather than a fumble.
    — Mark Heim | [email protected], al, 16 Oct. 2021
  • Then a fall, backward onto a large chunk of granite, cracked a rib and exacerbated the nerve issues.
    — Steve Meyer, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Aug. 2019
  • Kirra allowed her mind to flash backward, only for a moment.
    — David Canfield, EW.com, 29 Jan. 2020
  • Bending at the waist, raise your left leg backward and lower your torso forward until both are parallel to the floor.
    — Christine Yu, Outside Online, 10 Apr. 2018
  • Midway through the first quarter, Middleton wound over a Lopez screen toward the paint then smoothly switched the ball from his left hand to his right to bounce a pass backward to Lopez for a three-pointer.
    — Matt Velazquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 Dec. 2019
  • Lead actor winner Adrien Brody bounded onstage, grabbed Berry — who was presenting the award — and bent her backward, delivering a deep smooch to the stunned actress.
    — Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'backward.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: