Definitions for background
ˈbækˌgraʊndback·ground

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. background(noun)

   a person's social heritage: previous experience or training

   "he is a lawyer with a sports background"

2. background, ground(noun)

   the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground

   "he posed her against a background of rolling hills"

3. background, background knowledge(noun)

   information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem

   "the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident"

4. background, background signal(noun)

   extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured

   "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals"

5. background(noun)

   relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation

   "when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"

6. setting, background, scope(noun)

   the state of the environment in which a situation exists

   "you can't do that in a university setting"

7. background, desktop, screen background(noun)

   (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear

8. backdrop, background, backcloth(verb)

   scenery hung at back of stage

9. background, play down, downplay(verb)

   understate the importance or quality of

   "he played down his royal ancestry"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. background(Noun)

   One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously.

   The lawyer had a background in computer science.

2. background(Noun)

   A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.

3. background(Noun)

   Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.

4. background(Noun)

   A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground.)

5. background(Noun)

   The image or color, over which a computer's desktop items are show (e.g. icons or application windows).

6. background(Noun)

   Activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user

   The antivirus program is running in the background.

7. background(Verb)

   To put in a position that is not prominent

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Background(noun)

   ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front

2. Background(noun)

   the space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures

3. Background(noun)

   anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings

4. Background(noun)

   a place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight

The New Hacker's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. background

   [common] To do a task in background is to do it whenever foreground matters are not claiming your undivided attention, and to background something means to relegate it to a lower priority. “For now, we'll just print a list of nodes and links; I'm working on the graph-printing problem in background.” Note that this implies ongoing activity but at a reduced level or in spare time, in contrast to mainstream ‘back burner’ (which connotes benign neglect until some future resumption of activity). Some people prefer to use the term for processing that they have queued up for their unconscious minds (a tack that one can often fruitfully take upon encountering an obstacle in creative work). Compare amp off, slopsucker.Technically, a task running in background is detached from the terminal where it was started (and often running at a lower priority); oppose foreground. Nowadays this term is primarily associated with Unix, but it appears to have been first used in this sense on OS/360.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1709

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1685

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Nouns Frequency: #678

How to pronounce background?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say background in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of background in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of background in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of background in a Sentence

1. Lisa Truax:

   Let me clarify, this is a commercially produced photography backdrop -- not an American flag. My 18-year-old daughter wanted to show her patriotism. The issue here is the explanation I received from FHS was, they will not allow this photo because they were uncomfortable with the American flag in the background. We truly mean no disrespect to Foxboro High School, the veterans, and the American flag.

2. David Yaden:

   People are not only talking about the perceptual aspect of seeing the beauty of the earth hanging in this massive black background of space.

3. Pat Sajak:

   In the background, I could hear my wife and daughter talking. It sounded like they were a mile off, but they were right next to me, they were talking to each other. And I remember thinking, not in a morbid way,' I think this must be death. This must be what death is like.'.

4. Jonas Oransky:

   The FBI should have the time they need to complete a background check. The FBI’s more important than expediting sales to people who should n’t have a gun.

5. Joe Sullivan:

   Jason Brian Dalton had passed a background check, and was a driver-partner with Uber, we have reached out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can.

Images & Illustrations of background

Popularity rank by frequency of use