Behind
adj, adv, noun, prep, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 The rear, back-end.
"This part fits under the behind of the vehicle."
- 2 the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on wordnet
- 3 The buttocks, bottom, butt. informal
"I was stung on the behind by a wasp."
- 4 A one-point score.
"A roar from ten thousand throats go up, For we've kicked another behind."
- 5 The catcher. slang
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- 6 In the Eton College field game, any of a group of players consisting of two "shorts" (who try to kick the ball over the bully) and a "long" (who defends the goal).
- 1 Not advanced to the required or expected degree; overdue or in arrears.
"I'm very behind in my schedule."
- 2 Slow.
"My watch is behind by four minutes."
- 1 having the lower score or lagging position in a contest wordnet
- 1 At or in the rear or back part of something.
"The water flows out through the pipe, and the sediment collects behind."
- 2 In a rearward direction.
"We ran and ran, without once looking behind."
- 3 So as to come after someone or something in position, distance, advancement, ranking, time, etc.
"The slower runners were left a long way behind."
- 4 So as to be still in place after someone or something has departed or ceased to exist.
"I couldn't be bothered to carry the ironing board, so I left it behind."
- 5 Backward in time or order of succession; past.
"[…] forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before"
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- 6 Behind the scenes in a theatre; backstage.
"‘After the performance was over I went behind, and spoke to her.’"
- 7 Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining. archaic
"We cannot be sure that there is no evidence behind."
- 1 in or to or toward the rear wordnet
- 2 remaining in a place or condition that has been left or departed from wordnet
- 3 in debt wordnet
- 4 in or into an inferior position wordnet
- 5 showing a time that is earlier than the actual time wordnet
- 1 At or to the back or far side of.
"The children were hiding behind the wall."
- 2 At or to the back or far side of.; Concealed by (something serving as a facade or disguise). figuratively
"Behind the smile was a cruel intention."
- 3 At or to the back or far side of.; In the past, from the viewpoint of. figuratively
"All my problems are behind me."
- 4 Less forward or advanced than; after.; After in physical progress or distance.
"Smith finished the race a lap behind the others."
- 5 Less forward or advanced than; after.; After in developmental progress, score, grade, etc.; inferior to.
"I'm ranked sixth in the French class, behind five other pupils."
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- 6 Less forward or advanced than; after.; After in time.
"London is nine hours behind Tokyo."
- 7 Responsible for, being the creator or controller of.
"Who is behind these terrorist attacks?"
- 8 Underlying, being the reason for or explanation of.
"What is behind this unexpected decision?"
- 9 In support of.
"The republicans are fully behind their candidate."
- 10 Following, subsequent to; as a result or consequence of; because of. US, informal
"He was like, 'Fuck the police! Fuck you! You know who I am, you gonna quit playing with me, bitch.' I'm like let's go. 'Cause I wasn't trying to go to jail behind that shit."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"I suppose that behind each thing we have to do, there's something we want to do..."
Etymology
From Middle English behinde, behinden, from Old English behindan (“on the back side of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihindan, *bihindini (“on the back side of, in the rear of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bi- + *hindō (“the hind side, back part”), equivalent to be- + hind. Compare Old Saxon bihindan (“behind”, adverb), Middle High German behinter (“behind; back”).
Related phrases
More for "behind"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.