Definitions for background
ˈbækˌgraʊndback·ground

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

1. backgroundnoun

   a person's social heritage: previous experience or training

   "he is a lawyer with a sports background"

2. background, groundnoun

   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 knowledgenoun

   information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem

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

4. background, background signalnoun

   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. backgroundnoun

   relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation

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

6. setting, background, scopenoun

   the state of the environment in which a situation exists

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

7. background, desktop, screen backgroundnoun

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

8. backdrop, background, backclothverb

   scenery hung at back of stage

9. background, play down, downplayverb

   understate the importance or quality of

   "he played down his royal ancestry"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. backgroundnoun

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

   The lawyer had a background in computer science.

2. backgroundnoun

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

3. backgroundnoun

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

4. backgroundnoun

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

5. backgroundnoun

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

6. backgroundnoun

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

   The antivirus program is running in the background.

7. backgroundverb

   To put in a position that is not prominent

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

1. Backgroundnoun

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

2. Backgroundnoun

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

3. Backgroundnoun

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

4. Backgroundnoun

   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.

Matched Categories

1. • Accompaniment
   • Computer Science
   • Environment
   • Heritage
   • Noise
   • Screen
   • View

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

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. James Cakmak:

   Jack Dorsey is the right guy for the job, given Jack Dorsey product background and founder status. The only question is, is this the right time for a dual CEO role ?

2. Anoek Steketee:

   We were intrigued by this radio soap, its background and its popularity in Rwanda, almost everyone we spoke to on the streets knows the program and can name at least five characters.

3. Pawel Guzinski:

   For Pope Francis, his commitment to the poor and disadvantaged is most important, while doctrine remains in the background.

4. Lara Yeretsia:

   I can see why criminal defense lawyer would say, you know what, you can't. You got to stay in the background: Don't talk, but I can also see why it's so difficult in this situation, how horrific it is and what the impact is, because he's the last person who saw her.

5. Teresa Reid:

   That's why Nikolas Cruz trial could take a long time, this phase could take a long time, when the law allows for the existence of any other factors in the defendants' background, you can imagine what could be brought in.

Popularity rank by frequency of use