noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The deflection of particles or radiation through angles greater than 90 degrees to the original direction of travel. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   The particles or radiation deflected in this manner. countable, uncountable
3. 3
   A portion of the energy of electromagnetic radiation such as a laser or radio waves that is scattered back in the direction of the source of radiation by an obscurant. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   The sending of IP packets to essentially random addresses in response to incoming packets that have a spoofed origin. countable, uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   To scatter particles or radiation back to the direction from which they originate. ambitransitive
2. 2
   scatter (radiation) by the atoms of the medium through which it passes wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

blowbackoutscatter

Etymology

Back-formation from backscattering.

Related phrases

electromagnetic radiationradio waves

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.