Etymology
Advertisement

backlash (n.)

1815, of machinery, "reaction of wheels on each other produced by an inconstant load," from back (adj.) + lash (n.) "a blow, stroke." In metaphoric sense, it is attested from 1929.

Entries linking to backlash

back (adj.)
"being behind, away from the front, in a backward direction," Middle English, from back (n.) and back (adv.); often difficult to distinguish from these when the word is used in combinations. Formerly with comparative backer (c. 1400), also backermore. To be on the back burner in the figurative sense is from 1960, from the image of a cook keeping a pot there to simmer while at work on another concoction at the front of the stove.
lash (n.)
c. 1300, las "a blow, a stroke," later "flexible part of a whip" (late 14c.), possibly imitative; compare lash (v.1), which might be the immediate source of this. Century Dictionary says Irish lasg "a lash, whip, whipping" is of English origin. The lash "punishment by flogging" is from 1690s.

Others are reading

Advertisement
Advertisement
Definitions of backlash
1
backlash (n.)
a movement back from an impact;
Synonyms: recoil / repercussion / rebound
backlash (n.)
an adverse reaction to some political or social occurrence;
there was a backlash of intolerance
2
backlash (v.)
come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect;
the political movie backlashed on the Democrats
Synonyms: backfire / recoil
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near backlash

background

backhand

backhanded

backhoe

backing

backlash

backless

backlist

backlog

backorder

backpack

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper