backdrop

Pluralbackdrops

Formsbackdrops, backdropping, backdropped

1. 1
   nounfigurativelycountable

   Any background situation or set of circumstances against which events take place.

   The novel unfolds against the backdrop of the Great Depression.

   Negotiations continued, with the threat of a strike as a constant backdrop.

   Similarbackground, context, setting

   Note

   A stage word turned into a figure for circumstances, and it travels in a fixed frame: against a backdrop of falling rates, or, at the head of a sentence, Against this backdrop. That opener links what follows to circumstances just described, a habit of reporting and commentary. The preposition is nearly always against; in front of belongs to the visual background.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A decorated cloth hung at the back of a stage to form part of the scenery.

   The crew lowered a new backdrop between scenes.

   A painted backdrop of Venice transformed the bare community-theater stage.

   Similarbackcloth

   Note

   The literal sense the others are borrowed from, built simply from back and drop: a cloth that drops into place at the rear of the stage. In stagecraft it is often shortened to just a drop, and it is typically raised and lowered from the fly system above the stage, which is why crews speak of lowering or flying in a backdrop between scenes.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   The setting or background against which the action of a play, film, or other performance takes place.

   The director chose a small fishing village as the backdrop for the drama.

   The opera uses revolutionary France as a backdrop for its love story.

   Similarsetting, background, scene

4. 4
   nouncountable

   An image that serves as a visual background, such as on a screen or behind a photographed subject.

   The studio offers dozens of digital backdrops, from solid colors to city skylines.

   The anchor delivered the forecast in front of a backdrop showing a satellite weather map.

   Similarbackground

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To form or serve as the background or setting for something seen or happening.

   Snow-capped peaks backdrop the village in every postcard shot.

   A wall of old movie posters backdrops the café's seating area.

   Similarframe

   Note

   A noun put to work as a verb, and it inflects like drop, doubling the final p: backdropping, backdropped. It is transitive, and its subject is usually the scenery itself rather than a person arranging it: a sunset backdropping the skyline, peaks that backdrop a village. The participle form often trails a noun phrase as a descriptive tag.

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