backup

Pluralbackups

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A copy of a file or record, kept separately from the original, used to restore it if the original is damaged or destroyed.

   The team restored the database from last night's backup after the crash.

   Cloud backups update automatically whenever a file changes.

   Similarcopy, duplicate

   Note

   A computing sense that often drops its article: you restore a database from backup. It also counts, as in last night's backup or cloud backups. Practitioners distinguish full copies from differential or incremental ones, which record only what has changed since an earlier copy. So recovering a system can mean working through more than one backup.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A reserve or substitute kept in case the main person or thing fails or becomes unavailable.

   When the lead singer fell ill, her backup stepped in for the show.

   The pilot trained two backups to fly the mission if needed.

   Similarsubstitute, reserve, standby, stand-in, understudy

   Note

   The noun is made from the phrasal verb back up and closed into one word, as English often does when a verb becomes a noun (a setup, a breakdown). Here it is countable: a team has a backup, a production keeps two backups, each a person or thing ready to take over. That sets it apart from the looser sense of help, where backup is usually just support in general.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   Any kind of support or extra help that one can rely on.

   She gave a great speech, but she kept her notes as backup.

   New employees can ask senior staff for backup during busy shifts.

   Similarsupport, help, assistance

4. 4
   adjective

   Held as a standby, reserve, or extra in case the main one is required.

   The hospital relies on a backup generator during outages.

   Each climber carried a backup rope for safety.

   Similarspare, extra

   Oppositemain, primary

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A buildup of material caused by a blockage that stops it from flowing, or by flow that exceeds what can pass through.

   Plumbers cleared the sewage backup before it flooded the basement.

   Morning accidents create long backups on the highway.

   Similarblockage, jam, tailback, congestion

6. 6
   noununcountable

   Additional officers or personnel called in as reinforcements.

   The detective radioed for backup as the suspect fled down the alley.

   Two units provided backup during the raid.

   Similarreinforcements, support, help

   Note

   In police talk the word goes without an article: officers call for backup, send for backup, wait for backup. It names the extra people as a group rather than any one officer, so two units provide backup, not two backups. The word has spread well beyond policing. In BioWare's Mass Effect 2 (2010), a candidate is challenged for bringing backup to his Rite of Passage.

7. 7
   adjective

   Supporting or reinforcing; in music, relating to accompaniment behind a lead performer.

   The backup vocalists harmonized during the chorus.

   He played a backup role, steadying the rhythm for the lead guitarist.

   Similarbacking, supporting, accompanying

   Oppositelead

8. 8
   noununcountable

   Accompaniment, especially the musical or vocal support played or sung behind a lead performer.

   The soloist's backup consisted of two guitars and a drummer.

   Smooth vocal backup carried the melody beneath her lead.

   Similaraccompaniment, backing

   Note

   Music's word for whatever stands behind the lead: guitars under a soloist, voices under a singer. It is often uncountable. Pam Gordon wrote in 1984 that Debbie Ahn, on piano, provided "some mesmerizing back-up" at Ferron's Boston concert, with the word spelled with a hyphen. Placed before another noun, as in backup vocalists, the word becomes the musical adjective.

9. 9
   adjective

   Designed or held in reserve to take over if the primary system or data is lost.

   Engineers installed a backup power supply for the data center.

   The backup database mirrors the live one in real time.

   Similarsecondary, fallback

   Oppositeprimary, main

   Note

   A computing adjective that takes no more or most: a copy is a backup copy or it is not. In systems work it describes something kept synchronized or on standby. If the primary unit fails, the switch to the backup, called failover, then costs little time or data. Outside computing, the same use is simply the everyday "spare" adjective.

10. 10
    noununcountable

    Corroboration; evidence or support that confirms a claim or statement.

    The witness provided backup for the defendant's account.

    Without documentary backup, the auditors rejected the figures.

    Similarcorroboration, support, evidence, confirmation, proof

11. 11
    verbnonstandard

    Alternative form of back up. Nonstandard: as a verb it is usually written as two words, back up.

    Always backup important data to a separate drive.

    The script will backup the database each night.

    Note

    Computing writers sometimes spell the verb as one word, as in backup a drive. It even inflects as a single verb, doubling its p in backupping and backupped, as in CERN's 1989 description of "two methods for backupping." Many style guides treat this spelling as nonstandard. They keep two words for the verb (back up the files) and one for the noun and adjective, so careful writing uses back up.

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