# back-to-back

Pronunciation: US say "bak-tuh-BAK" /ˌbæk.təˈbæk/; UK

## Adjective

1. Coming one right after another, with no interval in between; consecutive.
   - Simple: Happening one right after another, with no break in between.
   - _The band performed three back-to-back shows over the weekend._
   - _He won back-to-back championships in consecutive years._
2. Positioned so that one person's back faces another person's back.
   - Simple: Standing or sitting with your back against someone else's back.
   - _The soldiers fought back-to-back, covering each other's blind spots._
   - _The portrait showed the twins seated back-to-back on a low bench._
4. Built with a party wall at the rear, sharing that wall with the house directly behind.
   - Simple: Built with its back wall shared with the house directly behind it.
   - _The back-to-back terraces of the industrial north housed thousands of families._
   - _Restoration of these back-to-back cottages preserved their original brickwork._
6. Emerging or moving in exactly opposite directions from a common origin.
   - Simple: Moving out in exactly opposite directions from the same point.
   - _When the particle decayed, the two photons flew off back-to-back._
   - _The detector recorded back-to-back jets produced in the collision._
7. In seven-card stud poker, describing a pair formed by a player's first two cards, one dealt face up and one face down. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In seven-card stud, having a pair made of your first two cards, one shown and one hidden.
   - _He played aggressively after catching back-to-back queens in the hole._
   - _Back-to-back tens early on can be tricky to play in stud._

## Adverb

3. Alternative form of back to back. — Alternative form of back to back.
   - Simple: Alternative form of back to back. Use this spelling for the same meaning, with the words joined by hyphens.
   - _The committee met back-to-back through the afternoon without a break._
   - _The two films screened back-to-back at the festival._

## Noun

5. A house whose rear wall is a party wall shared with the dwelling immediately behind it.
   - Simple: A house that shares its back wall with the house directly behind it.
   - _The museum preserved a restored back-to-back as it would have looked in 1870._
   - _These cramped back-to-backs once filled the streets around the factories._
8. On an oil rig, one of two workers who share a single position, each taking over the role while the other is off rotation.
   - Simple: A worker on an oil rig who takes turns with a partner, each working while the other is off.
   - _She trusted her back-to-back to handle any problems during her weeks ashore._
   - _When one driller quit, his back-to-back covered both rotations until a replacement arrived._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/back-to-back (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).