Meaning of background in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈbækˌɡraʊnd/

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    UK accent Play button

  1. Verb

    background

    Definitions

    1. understate the importance or quality of

    Examples

    • « he played down his royal ancestry »

    Antonyms

  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 »

    Derived terms

  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

Famous quotes

  • « I saw as a teacher how, if you take that spark of learning that those children have, and you ignite it, you can take a child from any background to a lifetime of creativity and accomplishment. »
    Paul Wellstone
  • « I just get so fed up with seeing the same things written about me. If I see the words 'ice queen' attached to me, I feel like banging my head against the wall. There's this perception that I can only be in a film if I have a glass of champagne in my hand and a stately home in the background. »
    Kristin Scott Thomas
  • « I was in fashion school, my brother has a law background, and my sister-in-law had worked in production, but none of us had a proper fashion business education. »
    Alexander Wang
  • « I really don't know what makes a comedian. I think it's a family background and environment. Yet if you put the same ingredients in another person, he may never utter a funny line. »
    Bob Newhart
  • « I joined the Labour party because I believed in equality, in freedom of speech and in tolerance, compassion and understanding for people, irrespective of their background and views. In whatever I decide to do in the future I will hold to those principles. »
    Geoff Hoon

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