Hypertext Webster Gateway: "backbone"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Backbone \Back"bone"\, n. [2d back,n.+ bone. ]
1. The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives
firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal
column.
2. Anything like, or serving the purpose of, a backbone.
The lofty mountains on the north side compose the
granitic axis, or backbone of the country. --Darwin.
We have now come to the backbone of our subject.
--Earle.
3. Firmness; moral principle; steadfastness.
Shelley's thought never had any backbone. --Shairp.
{To the backbone}, through and through; thoroughly; entirely.
``Staunch to the backbone.'' --Lord Lytton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
backbone
n 1: a central cohesive source of support and stability: "faith
is his anchor"; "he is the linchpin of this firm" [syn:
{anchor}, {mainstay}, {linchpin}, {lynchpin}]
2: (informal) fortitude and determination; "he didn't have the
guts to try it" [syn: {grit}, {guts}, {moxie}, {sand}, {gumption}]
3: the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and
protecting the spinal cord; "the fall broke his back"
[syn: {spinal column}, {vertebral column}, {spine}, {back},
{rachis}]
4: a computer network that connects other computer networks
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