backpack

noun, verb — 5 senses

backpack

noun

/ˈbæk.pæk/

Etymology From back + pack.

1

A knapsack, sometimes mounted on a light frame, but always supported by straps, worn on a person’s back for the purpose of carrying things, especially when hiking, or on a student's back when carrying books.

  • Rachel discovered that she could also keep things in her backpack that were important to her, nobody would know about them because they would be hidden. These important things included a small round rock that she had found […]2011, Thelma J. Miller, What's in Your Backpack?, page 8:
  • Many seats carry reservation labels, while the luggage racks are festooned with backpacks and suitcases.2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 77:
2

A similarly placed item containing a parachute or other life support equipment.

Synonyms
book bag, bookbag, booksack, haversack, knapsack, packsack, rucksack
Derived terms
backpack funding, backpack nuke, backpack rap, I lost my backpack
Hyponyms
creel

backpack

verb

Etymology From back + pack.

1

To hike and camp overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack.

  • I spent a month backpacking in the Rockies.
2

To engage in low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodation.

3

Rare To place or carry (an item or items) in a backpack.

  • Astronauts backpack oxygen during spacewalks.
  • I planned to go to jungle today and backpacked my things which contained^([sic]) food and a note book.2020, Akara September 2020 Magazine, page 103:
Derived terms
backpackable, backpacker, backpacking, fastpack, packing, slackpack

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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