# backslash

Pronunciation: US say "BAK-slash" /ˈbækˌslæʃ/; UK

## Noun

1. The punctuation mark \, a diagonal stroke running from the upper left to the lower right, the mirror image of the forward slash.
   - Simple: The mark \, a short line that leans to the left, used a lot in computer file paths.
   - _She added a backslash to separate the two directory names._
   - _Programmers reach for a backslash whenever they need to escape a special character._
3. A label mistakenly applied to the ordinary forward slash /, especially when someone refers to that mark or reads it aloud. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: A wrong name for the forward slash /, used by people who mix up the two marks.
   - _The presenter recited the link as 'https colon backslash backslash,' though every mark on the slide was a forward slash._
   - _Type a backslash right after the colon, the help-desk worker said, gesturing at the forward slashes in the URL._

## Verb

2. To escape a metacharacter by placing a backslash before it, turning the pair into an escape sequence the parser reads literally.
   - Simple: To put a backslash in front of a special character so the computer reads it as plain text.
   - _You need to backslash the dollar sign so the shell doesn't expand it._
   - _The editor automatically backslashes any literal period in the search pattern._

## Origin

Formed from back + slash, because the mark is a slash that "leans back" against the usual left-to-right direction of writing, in contrast to the more common forward slash (/). Its newer Unicode name is REVERSE SOLIDUS.

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