Meaning of background in English

1. Pronunciation

   /ˈbækˌɡraʊnd/

   US accent

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   UK accent

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1. Verb

   background

   Definitions

   1. understate the importance or quality of

   Examples

   • « he played down his royal ancestry »

   Antonyms

   • foreground
   • highlight
   • spotlight
   • play up
   • foreground
   • highlight
   • spotlight
   • play up

2. Noun

   background

   Definitions

   1. a person's social heritage: previous experience or training

   Examples

   • « he is a lawyer with a sports background »
3. 2. the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground

   Examples

   • « he posed her against a background of rolling hills »
4. 3. information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem

   Examples

   • « the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident »
5. 4. extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured

   Examples

   • « they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals »
6. 5. relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation

   Examples

   • « when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background »
7. 6. the state of the environment in which a situation exists

   Examples

   • « you can't do that in a university setting »
8. 7. (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear
9. 8. scenery hung at back of stage