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. Joe Biden:

   I have never heard anyone say with any serious background in foreign policy, 'Pull all troops out of the Middle East', if she meant pulling our fleet out of the eastern Mediterranean or the Persian Gulf, I think it will be an absolute disaster for American security and American foreign policy ... I hope she didn't mean in a literal sense.

2. Brian Dubay:

   He knew enough not to eat anything from the forest. He knew to drink water and stay hydrated. He knew to stay visible on that rock. He didn’t panic, so I think some of those skills are innate from that Boy Scout background and training.

3. Adrian Hogan:

   Once I drew on the coffee cup, I filmed it and rotated the coffee cup at the same time, so you have the panorama of the background and the coffee cup in the foreground.

4. Chris Murphy:

   Several days ago some of the president's comments seemed to suggest that he was once again backing away from his commitment to work on background checks legislation, i have been in contact with the White House this week since the president's comments - as late as last night - and I believe that the White House is still committed to trying to work on a comprehensive anti-gun violence proposal that would include strengthening background checks.

5. Ben Carson:

   I said anybody, doesn't matter what their religious background, if they accept American values and principles and are willing to subjugate their religious beliefs to our Constitution, i have no problem with them.

Images & Illustrations of background

Popularity rank by frequency of use