background
nounEtymology From back + ground. Compare backstory.
8 senses
- 1One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in…
- 2A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear…
- 3An extra who appears in the background, with no speaking role.
- 4Information relevant to the current situation about past…
- 5A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).
- 6The image or color over which a computer's desktop items…
- 7A type of activity on a computer that is not normally…
- 8Ellipsis of background radiation.
One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in the past.
- The lawyer had a background in computer science.
A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.
- Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close[…]above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world — camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2016, pages 206–207:
Broadcasting, Film, Media, Television An extra who appears in the background, with no speaking role.
Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.
A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).
- There was tons of noise in the background.
- The photographer let us pick a background for the portrait.
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A type of activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user.
- The antivirus program is running in the background.
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of background radiation.
- low-background
- Derived terms
30 terms
background check, backgrounder, background fodder, background investigation, background music, background noise, background process, background processing, background radiation, background radiation equivalent time, background right, backgroundy, cosmic background, cosmic background radiation, cosmic gravitational wave background, cosmic gravitational-wave background, cosmic infrared background, cosmic microwave background, cosmic neutrino background, deep background, extragalactic background light, gravitational wave background, gravitational-wave background, headground, low-background, low-background lead, low-background steel, multibackground, on background, superbackground