background
Pluralbackgrounds
Pluralbackgrounds
Formsbackgrounds, backgrounding, backgrounded
- 1A person's social heritage and past experiences; the life they came from.
Applicants from many different backgrounds attended the open day.
Her background in music shaped how she approached teaching.
UsageOften come from a working-class background; for training or experience, a background in a field.
Similarupbringing, experience, origins
- 2The part of a picture, scene or view that lies behind the main subject or the foreground.
The portrait's dark background draws the eye toward the sitter's face.
She blurred the background so the bride stood out sharply in the shot.
UsageUsually in the background: mountains in the background. The front part is the foreground.
- 3Information about past events that is relevant to understanding the current situation.
The article opened with enough background to explain the conflict's origins.
Detectives gathered background on the suspect's recent movements.
UsageOften background on something: some background on the dispute; also background information.
Similarcontext, history, information (entry), backstory
- 4A less prominent position, in which a person or thing draws less notice or carries less weight than others in a situation or activity.
The founder has moved into the background and lets her deputies run the company.
During the campaign, questions about the budget were pushed into the background.
UsageUsually in or into the background: stay in the background, fade into the background.
Oppositeforeground, forefront, spotlight
Note
Like the rear plane of a picture or a stage, this is a figurative position: someone or something in the background is still present, just out of the spotlight. Its natural opposite is the foreground, the same pairing that organizes a scene or landscape.
- 5Of less importance or noticeability within a scene or system.
Background characters filled the busy market scene without any lines.
The report treated safety as a background concern rather than a priority.
UsageUsed before a noun: background music, background noise, a background concern.
Similarsecondary, minor, peripheral, incidental
Oppositemain, central, primary
Note
Here the noun works as a modifier, and the word is simply back plus ground: background noise, a background thread. The thread example points toward computing, where activity hidden from the user gives the word its most technical edge.
- 6A class of computer activity that runs without normally being visible to the user.
The sync service operates in the background, uploading changes as they happen.
Closing the window doesn't stop the task; it simply continues in the background.
UsageAlmost always in the background: a program runs in the background; the window in use is in the foreground.
Oppositeforeground
Note
The meaning lives almost entirely in one fixed phrase: a program runs in the background, as an antivirus scan does while you keep working. Such processes are typically given lower priority so that whatever the user is actively doing stays responsive.
- 7The image or color displayed behind the icons and windows on a computer's desktop.
He customized the background with a dark gradient to reduce eye strain.
The new update reset everyone's desktop background to the default image.
UsageOften desktop background; you set an image as your background.
Similarwallpaper
- 8Ellipsis of background radiation.
Geiger counters always register some background, even far from any source.
Before testing the ore for radioactivity, the team measured the natural background in the room so they could subtract it from the readings.
Note
Physicists clip background radiation to its first word once the context is clear: counters always pick up some background, and researchers subtract it to isolate a signal. It also builds compounds such as low-background, for setups meant to keep that ambient radiation to a minimum. What is meant is ionizing radiation present in the environment from natural and artificial sources, usually treated as uncountable.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Radiation counters detect background counts, which are subtracted to isolate the source signal. physics.smu.edu
- Low-background measurement setups reduce ambient radiation reaching their detectors. pnnl.gov
- Background radiation is ionizing radiation present in the environment. osha.gov
- Background radiation includes natural and artificial sources. epa.gov
Less common meanings
- 9To move something into a less prominent position.
Her biography of the general backgrounds his battles, concentrating instead on his long, troubled marriage.
Editors often background minor characters to keep the plot moving.
Similardownplay
Oppositeforeground, highlight, emphasize, prioritize
Note
Discourse analysts use the verb for how a text distributes attention: Paul Baker's Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis (2006) observes that in one story one person receives focus "while the other is backgrounded." Focus is its working opposite there, and downplay is the everyday synonym. The passive is common, because the point is usually what a writer has done to someone.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Paul Baker wrote Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis, published in 2006. lancaster.ac.uk
- Baker uses the quoted wording when contrasting the attention given to two people in a story; focus contrasts with being backgrounded. en.wiktionary.org
- 10To position something within the background of an image or arrangement.
To create a sense of depth, the designer chose to background the city skyline and place the product in sharp focus up front.
The photographer backgrounded the old lighthouse, letting it sit small and hazy behind the two figures on the beach.
Note
The verb is older than it may look: Herman Melville's Pierre (1852) already describes a being "backgrounded by some spangled vail of mystery," meaning furnished with a background. In modern use it takes the thing placed behind as its direct object, with figures or scenery set behind a subject; the figurative verb moves that action into argument and attention.
- 11To research a subject and give someone, such as a reporter or an official, the background information needed to understand it.
Editors asked her to background the new policy before the segment aired.
He backgrounded the dispute thoroughly so listeners understood its origins.
Similarcontextualize
Note
Newsrooms use the verb for digging up a subject's history before reporting on it. It takes the subject as its object, as in background the policy, or the person briefed, with on for the subject: officials background reporters on a plan. It is the work that produces background as information, which is what the reporter ends up handing over to editors or audiences.
- 12An extra who appears behind the main action of a scene and has no speaking role.
Before the next take, the assistant director moved the background to the far end of the bar.
He started his career as background before landing speaking parts.
Similarextras
Note
Crews treat the word as a collective noun, without a plural s: a production hires fifty background, or calls for more background in a crowd shot. A single person is more often a background actor or background performer, though a background also occurs. The usage belongs to film and television sets rather than everyday talk.
- 13To raise a calf's weight and immunity by feeding it forage and grain, as an intermediate stage between weaning and the feedlot.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from the words "back" and "ground."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Background is formed from back and ground. en.wiktionary.org