Hypertext Webster Gateway: "background"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Background \Back"ground`\, n. [Back, a. + ground.]
1. Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as
opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.

2. (Paint.) The space which is behind and subordinate to a
portrait or group of figures.

Note: The distance in a picture is usually divided into
foreground, middle distance, and background.
--Fairholt.

3. Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a
background of red hangings.

4. A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.

I fancy there was a background of grinding and
waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly
finished . . . performance. --Mrs.
Alexander.

A husband somewhere in the background. --Thackeray.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

background
n 1: a person's social heritage: previous experience or training;
"he is a lawyer with a sports background"
2: the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in
the foreground; "he posed her against a background of
rolling hills" [syn: {ground}]
3: information that is essential to understanding a situation
or problem; "the embassy filled him in on the background
of the incident" [syn: {background knowledge}]
4: extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon
to be observed or measured; "they got a bad connection and
could hardly hear one another over the background signals"
[syn: {background signal}]
5: relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying
situation: "when the rain came he could hear the sound of
thunder in the background"
6: the state of the environment in which a situation exists;
"you can't do that in a university setting" [syn: {setting},
{scope}]
7: (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user
interfaces against which icons and windows appear [syn: {desktop},
{screen background}]
8: scenery hung at back of stage [syn: {backdrop}, {backcloth}]
v : move into the background; "he played down his royal
ancestry" [syn: {play down}] [ant: {foreground}, {foreground}]


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